


Can't Take the Heat

by memorizingthedigitsofpi



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: AC's broken, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Crushes, Cunnilingus, Dating, Dirty Talk, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fitz is aghast, Fitz is gonna, Fluff, Food Sex, Hand Jobs, Jemma lets him, Light Bondage, Masturbation, Mutual Pining, Oral Sex, Sci-Ops Era (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Secret Crush, Sex Toys, Shower Sex, Smut, Summer Lovin', TELL ME MORE TELL ME MORE, UST, Vaginal Fingering, and now for the real tags, get to third baaaaaase, havin' a blast, hell yeah I tell you what, is this gonna be smut?, stay at her plaaaaace, summer dreams occurring to me, tell me more! tell me more!, well-a well-a well-a UNF, whoa oh oh those summer nights
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-02
Updated: 2017-04-02
Packaged: 2018-04-07 08:38:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 53
Words: 70,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4256748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/memorizingthedigitsofpi/pseuds/memorizingthedigitsofpi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Fitz's air conditioner breaks, Jemma lets him crash on her couch. Soon, the heat wave isn't the only thing raising the temperature.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Morning Routines

**Author's Note:**

  * For [notapepper](https://archiveofourown.org/users/notapepper/gifts).



> prompted by my June crack!fic [A Little Less Conversation](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4084276)

Fitz woke up in a pool of his own sweat and immediately cursed. 

"Shit," he muttered burying his face in his pillow and throwing off the single sheet he'd been sleeping under. He glanced at his alarm clock. 4:28am. Great. With a sigh as deep as the ocean, he rolled out of bed and padded over to the window.

"Bloody aircon," he grumbled, smacking it on the side and twisting its dials to no effect. He wiped a hand across his forehead to catch the sweat that was already threatening to drip into his eyes. 

With a sigh, he padded over to his bathroom, stripping off his boxers in the hall as he went. He couldn't very well start thunking on the thing in the middle of the night without his downstairs neighbour calling the police on him, so for now he'd have to make due with a very cold shower. 

He sighed again as he stood at the toilet emptying his bladder. He stared straight ahead at his latest schematic, pinned to the wall in all of the places he was most likely to stare at it. Squinting, he tilted his head and mentally followed the routes of all of the components, looking for inefficiencies. Not finding any, he flushed, shook himself off, and stepped into the bath. There was a laminated version posted on the tile below his shower head, as well. 

An unbidden shriek escaped him as the cold water connected with sensitive body parts, but a moment later he was reveling in the welcoming coolness. Leaning one hand against the wall, he bowed his head to let the water wash over him, cleaning off the sweat and regulating his body temperature. It was upwards of 30 degrees outside and the sun hadn't even risen yet. If he didn't manage to fix his AC, and fix it quickly, he foresaw a  _lot_ of time spent just like this.

Pushing off from the wall, he reached for the shampoo and lathered up his curls. He closed his eyes to keep the suds out as he rinsed it out and then grabbed the soap. 

Once he was done with the basics of cleanliness, he looked at his razor for a moment before deciding he didn't feel like shaving today. It was the weekend, after all, so it didn't really matter if he was a bit scruffy. 

He turned his back to the shower head and enjoyed the pounding of the water on his shoulders. Closing his eyes, he breathed in deeply and took himself in hand. With a gentle squeeze, he felt himself hardening and with a few swift strokes he was more than half mast. He pressed his left hand against the wall and leaned over once more, this time with the water moving over his shoulders and back before sliding off his ass. He licked his lips slowly and then bit the lower one as his hand gripped his cock firmly and his hips pistoned it back and forth. 

His movements sped up as he started to moan, and then his balls tightened up and he shot his load all over the tile. "Fuck me," he cursed quietly as his hand slowed down and the last salvo oozed out of his dick. Turning around, he rinsed off and gave himself a final pat.

Reaching out, he turned off the water and opened the curtain. He wrapped himself in a towel and wiped a hand across his mirror to clear the steam. Then, toothbrush in hand, he continued his morning routine. 

\-------------------

Jemma woke up at the first strains of music coming out of her alarm clock. With a contented sigh and a languid stretch, she sat up and pushed off her duvet. It was Saturday, and she was going to enjoy being lazy from 8am to 10am before she got to work on reorganizing her bookshelves. She currently had them set up alphabetically by author, but really they ought to be arranged by subject matter first. She hummed to herself as she took off her pajamas and folded them neatly under her pillow. Weekends were so lovely. They gave you all sorts of time to catch up on little projects around the house. 

Grabbing her robe, she wrapped it around herself and danced over to her bathroom to the tune of  _A Little Less Conversation_ still playing from her bedside. 

She grabbed a hair clip from the top right hand drawer and pulled her hair back from her face. Then, she grabbed her toothbrush for her first brush of the day. Nothing started her day quite as well as a minty-fresh mouth. 

With that achieved, she reached into the shower to turn on the water and let it find its temperature, then she sat down on the toilet to relieve her bladder. Reaching over to her counter, she grabbed the journal article she was currently editing for publication and went through another paragraph, adding notes in the margins and underlining sections she wanted to rewrite. With that done, she stood up, wiped herself off, and flushed before opening the shower curtain and stepping inside. 

She gasped at the too-hot water on her skin, then sighed as she adjusted to it. Rolling her head gently from side to side under the water's flow, she brought her hands up to either side of her neck and massaged the lingering stiffness of sleep out of her body. 

Looking over at her razor, she went through her mental list of tasks for the day. Aside from a quick trip to the grocery store, she'd be inside her air conditioned apartment working on household projects all day. She decided to give it a pass and reached for the shampoo instead. Random strangers at the supermarket were not going to care if her legs were prickly. 

She took her time lathering her hair, gathering it up in masses and scrunching her fingers along her scalp. Closing her eyes, she smiled and bit her lower lip. She loved to have her hair played with, and if no one else would do it then she'd just have to do it herself. Leaning her head far back under the warm spray, she rinsed her hair and enjoyed the feeling of the silky waterfall as it slid across her shoulders and her back. She stood there longer than was strictly speaking necessary, reveling in the way the water moved across her skin: over her face, down her throat and over her breasts before dripping off of her nipples or sliding through her cleavage before continuing down. 

Her hands were just moving from her hair down her chest when she heard her phone ringing insistently in the next room. 

Sighing, she turned off the water and quickly squeezed some of the water out of her hair. Stepping out of the shower, she put on her robe and grabbed a towel for her hair before hurrying over to pick up her landline. 

"Hello?" she asked, trying not to sound too aggravated but honestly who would be buzzing her apartment at 8:15am on a Saturday?

"It's Fitz," came the familiar voice from the other end of the intercom. "Can I come up?"


	2. Breakfast

Fitz had finished his shower by 5am and was dripping in sweat again by 5:15. He hadn't even gotten dressed yet. This didn't bode well for the day ahead. He had to find somewhere with air conditioning that he could hole up in before he just dissolved completely.

Steeling himself, he pulled on some clothes, huffing out an overheated breath at the feeling of the cloth sticking to his skin. What had this country done to piss off God so much to deserve this kind of humidity? Honestly. If this wasn't some sort of Biblical plague, he didn't know what it was.

When he exited onto the street with his bag over his shoulder and his travel mug in his hand, he was momentarily buoyed by a cool breeze. Soon enough, however, the oppressive heat was strangling him again. He walked purposefully down the street to the all-night coffee shop he occasionally frequented when he'd run out of caffeine in his apartment but didn't want to stop working on a project. It was surprisingly busy for 5:30am on a Saturday - a time he didn't usually associate with being awake while also being sober.

After getting himself a coffee and some breakfast, he settled into a chair under one of the AC vents and pulled out his laptop. On the one hand, he usually thought of people who worked at coffee shops as pretentious idiots who secretly wanted attention. On the other hand, his designs weren't going to get looked at at home and nowhere else was open right now. He just had to kill time until 8:00 when Simmons would be up. How she considered _that_ sleeping in, he never knew, but he was definitely going to take advantage of that today.

Taking a sip, he leaned forward and started typing.

\------------------

Three hours later, Fitz let himself in the front door of his best friend's apartment.

"Jemma?" he called, looking around the living room and kitchen for any sign of her.

"Just a mo'," she called back, opening the hallway entrance to her bathroom. "You caught me in the shower," she explained. "I was just wringing out my hair a bit more," she said, smiling and pointing to her wet hair.

Fitz's eyes widened slightly and he forced himself to blink before nodding. "Right," he said. "Sorry about that." Lifting up his hands, he showed her that he'd come bearing gifts. "I've brought you breakfast, at least?" he said with an apologetic smile.

She leaned over, flipping her hair in front of her and doing something tricky with a towel that turned it into a turban when she stood up. "Bringing me breakfast doesn't make up for coming over at 8:30 in the morning on a Saturday," she said sternly, crossing her arms. Then, her face broke into an excited smile. "But what did you bring me?" she asked, eyes lighting up.

He turned quickly toward the kitchen and away from the gradually loosening tie of her robe and the pretty pink flush on her cheeks. "Cinnamon cappuccino and a blueberry scone," he said, opening up a cupboard for a plate. By the time he turned back around, she'd tightened her belt and was no longer in danger of flashing him.

He was simultaneously relieved and disappointed.

"Mmm," she said, licking her lips enthusiastically and taking the offered plate. "Alright," she said, kissing him on the cheek and grabbing the coffee cup as well. "You're forgiven." With a light laugh, she sat down at her little dining table and tucked into breakfast. "So, why on earth are _you_ up at this hour?" she asked, taking a sip of the coffee and closing her eyes in pleasure. "Ohh, that's good."

Fitz swallowed audibly and sat down quickly opposite her. He really should have taken more time with that wank this morning if Jemma eating breakfast was giving him a chub.

"Air con's broken," he explained, running a hand through his hair. "And it's bloody _obnoxious_ out there," he nodded toward the window, "So I thought I'd take refuge in your wonderfully cool apartment?" he raised his eyebrows hopefully and then waggled them comedically.

Jemma grinned and rolled her eyes. "I _suppose_ so," she said with her most put-upon voice. "But only because you've brought me breakfast."

He grinned back and pulled his laptop out of his bag. "D'you mind?" he asked, opening it up and putting it on the table.

"Not at all," she replied. "What are you working on?" She leaned over to try to get a look at his screen.

Fitz stared straight down her now-gaping robe for almost an entire second before managing to tear his eyes away. "See for yourself," he said in a slightly strangled voice, turning his laptop toward her and swiveling away from her out of his chair to get himself a glass of water.

"Are you feeling alright?" Jemma asked, furrowing her brow in his direction.

"Yup!" he replied, his voice just a tad too high. "Just a bit... overheated is all," he closed his eyes and mentally kicked himself. What kind of block-headed bollocks was _that_?

"You really need to be wary of dehydration in this heat," Jemma nodded sagely. "You just keep drinking water as long as you're still feeling thirsty."

"Will do," Fitz agreed. That should keep him in the kitchen long enough for things to settle down a bit.

They were companionably silent for the next ten minutes while Fitz drank water and Jemma ate her breakfast and read his abstract and schematics. "This is really good, Fitz," she said sounding impressed as she got up from the table and moved into the kitchen to wash her plate.

"You say that like it's a surprise," he teased with a lopsided grin.

"Well, it's not _Simmons-esque_ ," she grinned back. "But it'll do." She patted his arm as she slipped past him and back into the bathroom. "I'm just going to get dressed," she said as she closed the door.

"Good," Fitz muttered under his breath. He wasn't going to get any work done at all as long as she was sitting around in nothing but a robe.

\-------------------

Jemma read over three more paragraphs of her article as she dried her hair. It had air-dried a fair bit while she'd been eating breakfast and it was a bit of a hash, but she just shrugged and pulled it into a ponytail. It was too hot outside to wear it down, anyway.

Exiting her bathroom into her bedroom, she pulled an old tshirt out of her dresser but hesitated before grabbing her shorts. She bit her bottom lip and considered whether or not she cared that she now had a witness to the fact that she hadn't shaved her legs, but then she shook her head. Ridiculous. Fitz didn't care what her legs looked like, and besides it was too hot to wear jeans - air conditioning or not. Hanging her robe up behind her door, she pulled on her underthings and then got dressed.

She still had a full hour of planned relaxation ahead of her before she started in on her bookshelf project, and she planned to take full advantage.

But first, she'd make her bed.

\--------------------

Jemma hunched over a bit awkwardly on the couch as she read her book. She hadn't really thought through her relaxation plan in relation to the fact that Fitz would be here when she was enacting it.

When he'd asked her what she was reading, she'd answered honestly enough when she'd said, "Chemistry." What she _hadn't_ divulged was the fact that _Chemi_ _stry_ was the title of a bodice-ripper novel about two scientists who find love and lust in the most unlikely parts of a lab. It wasn't her usual light reading, but the girls at SciOps had been passing it around, and not only was the sex rather hot but the science was accurate as well.

She shifted in her seat slightly to better ensure that Fitz couldn't read over her shoulder and then blushed at the description of what the couple were doing in the emergency shower. Her eyebrows rose along with her heart rate as she swallowed with a dry mouth.

She glanced over at Fitz, just to make sure he was still working away. His brow was furrowed in concentration and he had two fingers pressed against his lips. Her blush deepened as she thought of how the male lead in the story was currently using two fingers on a different set of lips. Feeling her eyes on him, Fitz looked up with a question on his face.

With a sharp intake of breath, she quickly closed her book and hid it under a cushion.

"Reading's boring," she said in a voice that proved once again that she was a horrible liar. "Think I'll just start in on the shelves, if you don't think it'll bother you?"

"Not at all," Fitz shook his head. "Want some help?"

She froze for a moment, remembering the scene from the book where the couple had made rather interesting use of the reference library.

"I'll be fine," she said a bit too brightly. "You just... stay there," she waved an awkward hand at the table, "And I'll work around you."

As she turned to the first shelf, she blew out a breath strong enough to raise her fringe. She was certainly _not_ going to finish reading that book.

... Until after Fitz had left.


	3. Chores

Fitz tried to focus as Jemma went about her reorganization project, but it was hard. That is to say, _difficult_. She was listening to her ipod so as not to disturb him with her music, but she was still humming. And dancing.

It wasn't really _dancing_ dancing, just hip shimmies and bouncing on the balls of her feet, but it was adorable and it was distracting and every time he managed to drag his eyes away from it he wanted to go back to watching it again.

And then there were the shelves, themselves.

Jemma was a methodical woman, and so she started at the top of each bookcase and worked her way down, moving the books and picture frames and brick-a-brack to various surfaces, according to their type. The pictures wound up on the coffee table. The plants and other decorations made it to the counter separating the kitchen from the living and dining areas. The books, well there were so many books they ended up in piles on the floor, one for each major topic category. Jemma said that sorting as she went would make the process faster because when it came time to replace them on the shelves, she'd only have to alphabetize and not categorize as well.

 _When_ had he started finding her practically pathological sense of order _charming_?

Fitz blew out a breath and closed his eyes. He was a weak, bad man and he ought to be ashamed.

Instead, he opened his eyes and gave up on the pretense of working to watch Jemma over the monitor of his laptop. She was reaching up to the top shelf of yet another bookcase, and he clenched his teeth together at the sight of her body stretched out in profile. Her tshirt rode up in the front, revealing the soft skin of her belly, and the way she was standing on her toes pushed her bum out in a way that was positively inspiring. As for what it did for her chest... He stifled the whimper that wanted to escape from this throat.

Then she turned to one of her piles of books to add the ones in her hands and he got an even better view of her behind.

Closing his eyes again, he massaged them with the palms of his hands. This was his _best friend_ he was thinking about! She was the most brilliant person he'd ever met, on top of being the funniest and nicest, and all he could think about right now was...

He closed his laptop with a snap and pushed his chair back abruptly. He was just packing his computer in his bag when Jemma turned around and saw him.

She took her earbuds out and gave him a curious look. "All finished?" she asked.

"For now," Fitz nodded with a smile. "Think I'm going to head back to mine and see if I can't fix that AC."

Jemma gave him an amused but long-suffering look. "You know, your landlord should really see to that, not you," she said, crossing her arms.

"I know," Fitz grinned. "But if I fix it myself, I get a break on the rent."

She rolled her eyes, and he knew she was thinking about him fulfilling the 'cheap Scotsman' stereotype. "Alright," she said, lifting her hands in surrender. "But if you feel you really _must_ fix it on your own, at least take a fan with you so you don't die of heat prostration." She moved over to her hall closet and reached up to a top shelf to grab an old rotary fan.

"Let me get that for you," Fitz offered quickly. He really didn't need to see any more of her stretching just now. Not if he wanted to be able to walk out of here normally. She stepped aside for him and he reached it down without difficulty. "I'll bring it back later?" he asked.

"Sure," she agreed. "I'm planning to stay in and watch something on Netflix tonight, anyway, so whenever you like."

"What?" he joked. "No hot date?" Saturdays had once been her night for indulging in her _amorous_ side, but these days she seemed to invite him over to pizza and a movie more often than she enjoyed the company of a more... _romantic_ partner. Not that he was complaining.

She sighed good-naturedly and pushed his chest gently to move him toward the door. "Hot dates are only 'hot' when they aren't also _boring_ ," she said, her eyes sarcastically wide. "I'd rather dateDoctor Who."

"You mean The Doctor," Fitz corrected in an overly-pompous voice as he slipped out into the hallway and turned back with a grin.

"No," Jemma grinned back, holding the door open as they parted ways. "I mean the television programme."

\----------------------

Three hours later, Fitz was swearing up a storm in his apartment. The AC unit was in pieces on his floor and even with all of the windows open and the fan doing its level best, he was still sweltering in a room that was feeling increasingly like an oven.

He picked up the tshirt he'd long since discarded on the floor beside him and used it to wipe the sweat off his brow and chest. He'd done that so many times already, however, that his shirt was nothing but a useless damp mess. With a groan, he lifted himself up off the floor and padded over to the bathroom. Tossing the shirt into his laundry hamper, he leaned over the sink to splash himself with cold water. Then he reached into his medicine cabinet to grab his deodorant for a fresh coat. What he really wanted right now was another shower, but Jemma should be here any minute and he didn't want a repeat of this morning, except in reverse.

Not that she'd care one way or the other about seeing him in a towel, but he certainly didn't want to be around her when he was anything less than fully dressed.

Unfortunately, when he came back out of the bathroom, she was already in his kitchen rooting around for something. "I brought ice cream," she said over her shoulder as she pulled two bowls out triumphantly.

Her eyebrows rose in surprise when she turned fully around and saw him standing there half-dressed, and he immediately crossed his arms over his chest. Then he uncrossed them and buried them in his shorts pockets, his shoulders rising almost to his ears. Then he jabbed one awkward thumb over his shoulder and jerked his head in the direction of his bedroom. "You serve," he suggested, "And I'll go grab a fresh shirt."

He barely waited long enough for her to nod before turning tail and ~~running~~ _walking quickly_ to his room.

"What kind of a numpty _are_ you?" he mumbled to himself as he sifted through his dresser for a shirt. He grabbed one and pulled it over his head, struggling to get his arms through the sleeves as they stuck to his skin. "Ruddy piece of..." he grumbled, finally getting it on. He immediately felt it dampen under his arms and between his shoulder blades. He sighed. Good thing he didn't have any expectations to go along with this crush because he was pretty sure that women weren't attracted to sweaty men covered in engine grease.

\----------------------

Jemma took a deep breath and leaned against the kitchen counter for a moment. She and Fitz had been swimming together before, but she hadn't taken any notice of his physique back then. Now, however... She shook her head and reached into a drawer for a couple of spoons. She was being ridiculous. It was incredibly hot in this apartment, and Fitz was just doing what anyone would do in these temperatures.

He certainly wasn't _trying_ to be sexy.

She pressed her lips together and frowned in concentration as she dug the ice cream out of its plastic tub and portioned it into the bowls. It started melting immediately.

"Chocolate?" Fitz asked from right behind her, and she jumped wit a slight shriek. "Sorry!" he apologized immediately. "I thought you heard me coming!"

Jemma laughed weakly and pressed a hand to her chest where her heart was beating a bit more rapidly than usual. Because he'd scared her. Of course. "Nono," she said, resting her hand on his forearm to reassure him. He was skin was practically burning up, so she removed it almost immediately. "I was just... thinking," she said.

"What about?" Fitz asked, grabbing one of the bowls and immediately taking a large mouthful of ice cream.

She took a moment to put the rest of the ice cream in his freezer, then picked up her own bowl for a mouthful of cool refreshment. After she swallowed, she loaded up another spoon. "That article I'm writing," she said before eating it.

"Oh yeah," Fitz nodded, wandering back to his living room to sit on his couch. "How's that going?" he asked.

"I'm in the editing process now," she said, curling up on the old recliner opposite him. "I have to cut it down to 8,000 words," she made a face.

"Ugh," Fitz agreed, nodding. They had a shared distaste for having to cut their papers down for publication, but that was the nature of journal writing. "Want me to take a look at it?" he offered.

"That'd be great," she said appreciatively. "I should be done with the initial cuts by mid-week." She continued to eat her ice cream quickly, racing against the melting clock. "What about you? Need another set of eyes on your project?" she offered. "I had a few ideas when I read it over this morning."

"Oh yeah?" he asked. "Like what?" He scraped the bottom of his bowl for the last few drips and then brought it up to his face to lick it clean.

Jemma shook her head and sighed with a smile. The lengths he went to for ice cream. Honestly. She finished her own bowl without the need to clean it with her tongue and placed it on the coffee table in front of her. "We can talk about that _after_ you get the aircon back on," she said, fanning herself with one hand. "It's so hot in here, I can barely _think_."

" _I know_ ," Fitz agreed vehemently. "But I've tried everything I can think of to fix it and nothing's worked. I think I'm going to have to call Larry now. He'll either have to get a man in or shell out for a replacement unit."

"You should have done that this morning," Jemma said, though she tried to keep the I-told-you-so tone out of her voice. Fitz's eloquent look told her that she'd failed. "Anyway," she said, standing up with finality. "It's positively _inhuman_ in here, so you're going to pack yourself a bag and stay at my place until yours is livable again."

"I am?" Fitz asked, eyebrows raised in surprise.

"You are," she nodded firmly, picking up their bowls and bringing them into the kitchen. "And you're going to pay for dinner tonight to say thank you," she grinned.

"I am," he grinned back.


	4. Welcome Home, Roomie

Jemma wiped her sweaty neck for approximately the thousandth time and finally just pulled up her shirt hem to do the job. While Fitz was putting some things in a bag, she was packing up his perishable food to bring back to her place. Not only did they not know how long he was going to be crashing on her couch, but she'd also only done enough grocery shopping to satisfy her _own_ appetite. She wasn't prepared to feed the bottomless pit that was her best friend, as well.

Opening the freezer, she stuck her head inside it for a moment to get some much-needed relief.

"Hey now," Fitz said, chuckling behind her. "Keep that up and the ice cream'll melt."

She smiled guiltily and pulled herself out again. "Just... checking on something?" she asked, not at all convincingly.

"Uh huh," Fitz nodded, not at all convinced. He dropped a duffel on the floor beside him. "I'm all packed. You ready?"

Jemma looked from Fitz to the duffel and back again, appraisingly. "Really?" she asked, crossing her arms and raising a brow in judgment.

"Really," Fitz confirmed, crossing his arms and nodding.

"Toothbrush?"

"Check."

"Toothpaste?"

"If I've got one, I've obviously got the other."

"..."

"There's no need to give me that look! I have it!"

"Fine. Shampoo?"

"I can't just use yours?"

"..."

"One of these days, you'll roll your eyes so hard they're gonna fall right out."

"So? Then you'll build me better ones."

"Good point."

"Pants?"

"..."

"Aha! I _knew_ you'd forget something important!"

She laughed as he stuck his tongue out at her and grabbed his bag. She couldn't keep the smirk off her face as she heard him grumble some choice words under his breath, as well.

Turning back to the fridge, she gave it a quick once-over to make sure he wouldn't return to any nasty surprises. Satisfied that it was as cleaned out as necessary, she poured herself a glass of water and reached back into the freezer for ice. It started melting as soon as she popped it out of the tray and dripped its way over to her glass, but it felt so lovely while she held it. Biting her lip and craning her neck to make sure Fitz was still in his bedroom, she popped out another piece before putting the tray back in the freezer.

She gasped when she pressed the cool ice to her forehead, then sighed as it started melting over her skin. Leaning her head back, she traced it over her forehead, down her nose, across her cheeks, and along the column of her throat before following the same path in reverse. On the next pass, she brought it across her lips and then around to the back of her neck before pulling down the collar of her tshirt and dipping it into her cleavage. By that point, the cube was so small that she couldn't hold it anymore and it dropped down into her bra.

The cool wetness was simultaneously refreshing and uncomfortable.

She was just about to open the freezer for another cube when Fitz dropped his duffel on the floor again and crossed his arms once more. "Anything _else_ you think I've forgotten?" he asked, his face full of challenge.

\---------------------

Fitz paid the taxi driver while Jemma emptied out the trunk of his cab, and then they each loaded themselves down with duffel and groceries.

He focused on putting one foot in front of the other and not dropping anything as he followed Jemma into her building's elevator. He'd been thinking of anything and everything he could except the sight of Jemma dragging a very lucky ice cube all over her hot, flushed skin. When he'd returned from his pants-foraging to see her acting like something out of a porn fantasy in the middle of his kitchen, he'd almost stopped her. He probably _should have_ stopped her, but he didn't want to embarrass her.

Right. Embarrass _her_. Because _she_ was the one lusting after her best friend in the world.

He huffed in a breath and readjusted his grip on the bags as the elevator reached her floor.

"Almost there," she said cheerfully as they walked down the hallway to her apartment.

He took a deep breath and tried to stop staring at her arse. "Yup!"

She fiddled with the key in the lock for a moment and then, "There we are!"

"Brilliant!" he sighed happily, dropping his duffel just inside the door and swinging the grocery bag he held up onto her kitchen counter.

\---------------------

Even with all of the fresh food now in her fridge, neither one of them wanted to cook. Besides, pizza and telly was becoming something of a Saturday tradition, so why mess with it?

Jemma leaned forward and placed her empty plate on the coffee table next to Fitz's. She hesitated for the briefest of moments before sitting back again. When she'd been eating, she'd leaned forward slightly so as not to spill on her shirt, but now that she was done, nothing was keeping her from sinking back into the sofa cushions.

Nothing except the fact that Fitz had molded himself into the corner with one arm on the arm of the sofa and the other along its back. If she leaned into the cushions where she was currently sitting, she'd end up with his arm practically around her. Of course, if she shifted over to the other sofa cushion, he might wonder if something was the matter.

Something _was_ the matter, but she didn't want to tell him that it was the fact that she was constantly about three seconds away from grabbing him for a snog.

All this ran through her mind in less time than it took for her to wipe nonexistent crumbs off her hands and onto her plate. With a deep breath, she smiled at Fitz and leaned back against the couch, and if that also happened to mean leaning back into his arms, well, so be it.

She shivered, and she'd never been more aware of the skin on the back of her neck than she was now that it was touching his forearm.

"Cold?" Fitz asked, taking his eyes off the screen to look at her. "I can turn down the aircon, if you'd like."

"I'm fine," Jemma waved him off. "Just someone walking over my grave," she joked.

"Pretty sure even my superstitious _gran_ doesn't believe that one," Fitz laughed, looking back to the screen.

She stared at his profile for a moment longer before dragging her eyes back to the television.

\---------------------

Fitz had no idea what was going on in the film anymore. He couldn't tell you a single plot point or character's name. He couldn't even pinpoint the setting. It could be an historical drama or a sci-fi adventure for all he knew.

All he could concentrate on right now was Jemma's head in his lap and her hand on his thigh.

She'd started yawning soon after the film had begun, but rather than abandon him, she'd placed a pillow in his lap and curled up on her side along the sofa. She'd done it all the time back at the Academy when they'd studied in their dorm rooms or managed to snag a couch at the library. She'd get sleepy and rather than go to bed, she'd just curl up with a pillow in his lap.

 _How_ had he been able to keep studying with that going on? How had he been able to do anything at all besides let his mind go wild with possibilities?

Teenage him had been a complete pillock.

Adult him, however, was more than aware of the dangers involved in Jemma's current position. He sent out a silent prayer that she didn't try to adjust her pillow because she would definitely find something underneath it at this point. And the way her hand was draped over his thigh, just under her cheek... He closed his eyes and continued to regulate his breathing.

His own hand was placed respectfully at her waist, carefully _not_ moving down over her hip or up her rib cage. No matter how much he wanted it to. He restrained himself to just letting his thumb brush back and forth over the bare skin between her tshirt's hem and her shorts' waistband.

\---------------------

Jemma called out to Fitz that she was finished in the bathroom and then locked the door that led from it to her bedroom.

She undressed slowly, pulling her tshirt up and over her head and tossing it into her laundry basket and doing the same with the shorts she shimmied out of.

She was just reaching behind her to unclasp her bra when the shower started in the next room and she hesitated. She was about to get naked at the same time as Fitz. Her breath caught in her throat at that realization, and a shiver ran up and down her spine. Squeezing her thighs together, she took off her bra and the cool air on her breasts was erotic in a way that it never had been before.

Lying down on her bed, she closed her eyes and imagined Fitz shirtless like he'd been in his apartment. His skin shone with sweat, and grease smudges stained his chest here and there. Her hands moved up and caressed her own chest on the spots where his had been darkened with oil. But only at first. Soon, they were concentrating their attention on her breasts, teasing the soft skin before trailing up to her nipples.

She gasped and shivered again, biting her lip to try to stay quiet as she pinched her nipples just the way she liked. Her back arched and she gasped a deep breath, picturing Fitz standing under the spray of the shower his damp hair tightening into ringlets. She teased herself again and again as she imagined the droplets hitting his face, his shoulders, his back before sliding down his skin, tracing a path down his chest, his spine, his ass...

She choked off a moan, very aware of the fact that Fitz was just a few feet and one wall away.

Naked.

Wet.

Hard.

She licked her lips and reached down to pull off her panties. She slid them off over her feet and flung them across the room. They hit the bathroom door and slid down to crumple on the floor and she was overcome with the image of them hitting Fitz in the chest and then him catching them and tossing them aside.

Her breath quickened as her thoughts brought him over to her bed, her body.

With one hand still teasing her nipple, she moved the other between her legs. She dipped her middle finger between her lips to get it wet and then moved it up to her clit. Rubbing in circles once, twice, she thrust her hips up in search of what she needed. She pushed two fingers inside herself, then three, then brought them back up to her clit, all while her other hand tortured her breasts.

Her mind worked in overdrive, imagining Fitz's hands and mouth and cock. She wanted them, wanted _him_ and he was _right there_ , just on the other side of the wall.

Unable to hold back any longer, she pressed just _there_ and had to grab her pillow to muffle her shout of ecstasy.

In the other room, the shower turned off.

She panted and tried to catch her breath.

She was in trouble.

\---------------------

"Think I'll take a shower before bed," Fitz called into the bathroom as Jemma brushed her teeth and did whatever else her nighttime routine entailed. "Don't want to get your lovely couch all sweaty." Plus, he needed to, ahem, take care of something.

"You've got a towel?" Jemma called back.

"I have," he confirmed. In fact, he had two and a face flannel and some sort of sponge type thing that he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do with. If Jemma was anything, she was a good hostess.

He was still keyed up a few minutes later when she told him she was all finished and he entered the hall door to the bathroom. He put his various shower accoutrements on the counter and turned on the water, then he stripped off his clothes. He looked around for a laundry bin, but she seemed to have moved it into her bedroom. He supposed Sunday was wash day for her as well. Shrugging, he kicked them into a pile in the niche under the vanity and turned toward the toilet for a piss.

Unfortunately, his penis didn't agree with his plan and its semi-hard state would make for a bit of a mess. If this were his bathroom, he'd just go for it and clean it up later. It wasn't his bathroom, however, so he decided to hold it for now and step into the shower.

He gave himself a perfunctory wash, not even bothering to shampoo his hair. The shower was just an excuse, really. He couldn't very well wank in Jemma's living room, on her  _couch_. Hell, even doing it in her shower felt somehow too... intimate. But at least this way he'd be able to... deal with things... and not have to do any cleanup. Or answer any awkward questions. 

Closing his eyes, he licked his lips and remembered how she'd look stretching out for the top shelf, arching her back to stick out her bottom and making her tits look just _fantastic_. And then there was her lifting her shirt to wipe the sweat off her face. He wondered if she realized she offered him a flash of bra every time she did it. He could have gone his whole life without knowing that she had a white bra with little blue flowers on it, but he was glad that he didn't have to.

His right hand closed around his stiff cock and started to stroke. Slowly this time, not like the morning. This wasn't a wank just to get it over with. This was a wank well-earned after a day full of Jemma. A day full of her legs and her ass and her smile and her tits and her rolling eyes and her shiny hair and her cleverness and...

His hand squeezed around the base of his cock, slowly pulling it all the way to the end before descending again. God, when she'd done that thing with the ice cube... He took in a sharp breath and his left hand cupped his balls. What he wouldn't give to be able to trace the same path with his tongue.

His hand squeezed again, turning slightly now as it pulled along his shaft, and his motions sped up as he mentally removed her clothes.

Her stomach had been so soft when he'd stroked it there on the sofa. He was sure her breasts would feel just as good. He wondered what colour her nipples were and how hard they'd get when he sucked them. What noises she'd make when his cock slid into her pussy. What she'd feel like, squeezing around him.

His hand tightened even more around his cock and it moved so fast now it was almost a blur. He pumped himself hard and fast, just the way he wanted to fuck her, fuck Jemma, _fuck_ Jemma, _fuck Jemma - fuck, **Jemma!**_

He almost lost his footing as he came but managed to brace his left hand against the tile wall in time.

As he caught his breath, he glanced at the wall and hoped that he'd managed to keep the words inside his head rather than shouting them at the top of his lungs like he'd wanted to. How would he explain _that_ over breakfast?

With one last quick inspection to make sure all evidence of his activities had washed down the drain, he turned off the shower and got out of the tub.

Grabbing a towel to dry off, he gave himself a hard look in the mirror.

"You're in big trouble, mate," he said, shaking his head. Big, big trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shoutout to notapepper for the ice cube idea :D


	5. Late Nights and Early Mornings

Fitz shifted around on the couch, trying to get comfortable. 

Staring at the ceiling, he couldn't stop himself from wondering what Jemma wore for pyjamas these days. Was it still the oversized tshirts and baggy cotton bottoms of their Academy days? Or had she moved on to more... grownup things? He closed his eyes and groaned. He really needed to get a grip. And not on his cock this time. 

He shifted again, this time ending up on his side with his hand under the pillow. He frowned as his hand came into contact with something. What was that? A book? What was that doing there?

Pulling it out, he squinted in the dim light and read the title,  _Chemistry_. Ugh. He rolled his eyes. Only  _Jemma_ would read up on chemistry on a Saturday. Except this looked more like a novel than a text book. He reached over his head and turned on the table lamp, briefly blinding himself. After a few blinks and a mild curse, he was able to see again and looked at the cover one more time. His eyebrows rose in surprise. 

 _Jemma Simmons_ , he thought with a wicked grin.  _You naughty thing, you_. She was reading smut!

Wait. She was reading _smut_. 

There  _he'd_ been, trying not to pop a woody in front of her, and she'd been reading... He opened the book to where she'd marked it and started reading. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. She'd been reading  _explicit_ fucking smut with him right there in the room!

Not for the first time, he cursed female biology and its ability to hide arousal. If he'd tried to read this with her in the room... well,  _she_ would have noticed something going on, that's for sure!

He swallowed hard as he kept reading, mentally replacing the characters in the book with him and Jemma. 

He was going to need another shower.

\---------------------

Jemma woke up before her alarm and lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. 

Last night, she'd... well, she'd _indulged_. And ... pleasant... as that had been, she really needed to get a grip on herself, metaphorically speaking, and control these urges. So what if Fitz had been  _naked_ in the next room? She bit her lip and closed her eyes.

Sitting up, she shook her head and blew out a breath. No. She couldn't keep thinking about him like that. He'd be mortified if he knew! No, it was better if she just put it out of her mind. Focused on other things. Her work. She had that article to finish editing, she'd just focus on that until Fitz went back to his own apartment. 

With a satisfied smile, she got out of bed and smoothed the covers back in place. There. All settled. 

She opened her door a crack and saw Fitz sprawled out on her couch, blanket flung to the ground and one leg hanging off of the cushions. Her smile softened into fondness and she moved toward the sofa to make him a bit more comfortable.

She took his foot gently in her hand and was just slowly moving it back onto the couch when she looked up and was confronted by a tent in the front of his pyjama bottoms. She blinked and her mouth dropped open, but she caught herself before she made a noise. Remembering what she'd been doing, she placed his foot on the cushion and reached down for the blanket. She hesitated a moment before laying it over him, unable to resist the opportunity to, frankly,  _ogle_ him as he slept. She felt horribly guilty for doing it, but at the same time, it wasn't every day that she got to stare at him like this. And it  _certainly_ wasn't every day that she could stare at him while his shirt was rucked up over his chest and his erection was poking almost out of his pants. 

Fitz groaned softly in his sleep and shifted position slightly, startling her out of her trance. She carefully laid the blanket over him, making sure she didn't wake him up and was just about to leave him in peace when her eye was caught by something on the floor. 

She blushed to the roots of her hair when she saw it was the romance novel she'd hidden under a cushion the previous morning. She'd forgotten that was in there! Oh god, what if Fitz had found it? What if he'd  _read_ it?

Fortunately, it looked like it had just slipped out from under the pillow while he'd slept, so she quickly snatched it up and hid it away behind a plant on one of her freshly-organized bookshelves. 

She didn't need him knowing about her lab fantasies. He'd  _never_ stop teasing her.

\---------------------

Something tickled Fitz in his sleep and he squirmed to get away from it. Then he was enveloped in something warm and he frowned. He'd just managed to get cool. Noises at the edge of his hearing prodded at him before focusing into the distinctive gurgle of a coffee maker. He sighed happily. Jemma, bless her, had put the coffee on. 

He blinked open his eyes, sticky with sleep, and rubbed them into focus. He frowned at the blanket spread smoothly over his body. Well, almost smoothly. Shit. She would have walked right past that. 

Wait.  _Double_ shit. He always kicked his blankets off in his sleep. She'd probably put the damn thing on him, right over top of his...  _Fuck_. _  
_

He was still contemplating the horrors of Jemma being confronted with his morning boner when she crept quietly past him on her way back to her room. 

 _Double_ fuck. 

That was definitely not an oversized tshirt and too-big cotton bottoms. 

He balled one hand up into a fist and used the other one to cover his now tightly-closed eyes. If he lived to be a hundred, he'd never forget the image of her walking, no  _bouncing_ past him in a tiny yellow tanktop and those panties that looked like shorts. 

He  _really_ hoped his AC got fixed soon because if he stayed here much longer, he'd probably die. 

The shower turned on in the bathroom, and he immediately remembered the first scene he'd read in that smutty book of Jemma's. He wondered how she'd react if he joined her. Would she do like the woman in the book and push him down to his knees in front of her? God, he wanted to know what she tasted like. 

 _No_. He told himself firmly, sitting up on the couch and burying his head in his hands. He rubbed his face harshly up and down before dragging his hands through his hair. No. he had to stop this. It wasn't fair to either of them, really. Jemma wouldn't appreciate all of the many,  _many_ things his imagination was having her do both to and with him, and he needed to stop fantasizing about having sex with her and focus on something that would actually happen sometime in  _this_  lifetime. 

Standing up, he folded the blanket neatly and rearranged the cushions on the couch. Then he padded into the kitchen.  _Coffee._ Nothing sexy about coffee. Nothing at all.

He poured himself a cup and added in the cream and sugar, but when he took his first sip he remembered Jemma's first sip of that cappuccino the day before and the downright pornographic moan she'd let out. 

He frowned and shook his head, taking his coffee back to her dining table where his laptop was set up. He checked his email and sipped his coffee and definitely didn't think about how he'd been sitting here yesterday when she'd bent right over in front of him without even bending her knees and shown him...

He gritted his teeth. This was ridiculous. He was 24 for fuck's sakes, not 12! He should act like it.

Standing up again, he went back to the kitchen. Breakfast. That would keep his mind occupied. 

He hoped.


	6. Morning Not-so-Routines

Jemma turned on the shower to get the water to temperature and then walked through to her bedroom to take off her pyjamas. Her nipples hardened as she pulled her tank top over her head and she ignored their sensitivity while she stripped off her panties.

Just because she'd seen Fitz... _aroused_... didn't mean that she had to get that way herself. It was just because of the air conditioning. Yes. The cool air was what did it, not her stubbornly wandering thoughts.

What if he  _had_ read the book? She blushed as she returned to the bathroom. If he'd picked it up where she'd left off, he'd have read that shower scene. 

Pulling aside the curtain of her own shower, she stepped in and closed her eyes as the warm water streamed over her flushed face. 

He was out there in the living room right now, sleeping, but what if he woke up? What if he woke up, and he'd read that scene, and he heard the water running in her shower? What if he thought about that scene and thought about her and thought about joining her? What if he actually  _did_ join her?

Jemma gasped and blushed all the way down her chest. This was the exact opposite of what she'd decided to do. She was supposed to  _stop_ thinking of Fitz that way, not start thinking of him in even more detail.

She shouldn't think of him waking up on the couch and throwing off the blanket. Reaching down and gripping his hard cock through his shorts. Hearing the water running in the shower and realizing that meant she was in there, hot and wet and naked. Opening the door and watching her through the haze of steam and the translucent cover of the shower curtain. Dragging his shirt off over his head and messing up his curls. Pushing down his shorts and freeing his erection. Pulling back the curtain and sliding into the shower behind her. Slipping his arms around her and pressing his hard cock against her ass. Moving his hands slowly up her ribs to cup her breasts and tease her nipples. Kissing his way down her back while sliding down to his knees. Turning her around so he could kiss her between her legs like the man in the book...

Jemma shook her head abruptly. Her breath was coming in short rasps as her right hand teased her breasts and her left delved between her thighs. 

She usually had better self-control than this. But then, she usually had time away from Fitz. Time to focus on other things. Time to forget, just a _little_ , this stupid crush she'd developed. 

But now he was here. He was sleeping on her couch and using her shower. They'd washed the dishes together last night, and it was almost like they were... 

Roommates. They were  _roommates._ And they'd  _stop_ being roommates as soon as his air conditioning was fixed. 

With a firm nod, Jemma started shampooing her hair. 

Good. That was settled then. Now she could get on with her day.

She looked at her shower rack and bit her lip as she contemplated her razor. If they were roommates, he wouldn't care a jot that she hadn't shaved in a few days. If they were roommates, she wouldn't care either. 

The water streamed over her face and neck and breasts and down into the drain as she hesitated, caught by indecision. 

Well, really, she might as well shave. What if she decided to go out to the pool later? She wouldn't want to look unkempt. She'd just shave her legs. And her underarms. And maybe tidy up her bikini line a bit? Just in case? Because she might want to go swimming?

She closed her eyes and sighed as she grabbed her razor. She was such a bad liar, she couldn't even convince  _herself_.

\---------------------

Fitz had some bacon on to fry and was just getting the eggs out of the fridge when Jemma emerged from her room, dressed and ready to face the day. She appeared behind the fridge door with a pleased smile on her face, and when he looked up at her he had to remind himself not to stare. 

She'd done something different with her hair. It was in a ponytail just like it had been the day before, but this time it was curly? And somehow shinier? And her eyes looked bigger than he remembered them being. They were practically swallowing him whole, except her lips were this shiny sort of reddish-pink colour and they kept drawing his attention down to them. 

And then he closed the fridge door and saw her outfit and damn near dropped the eggs. 

"You look-" he gulped and swallowed the words that wanted to come out. Hot. Amazing. Sexy.  _Fucking incredible_. "Nice," he finished lamely. "Are you going out?" He turned back to the frying pan and shifted the bacon so it wouldn't burn. 

She puttered around behind him, grabbing a mug from the cupboard and pouring herself some coffee. "I might do," she answered as she reached into the fridge for the cream. Fitz stared at her bottom for a moment, but dragged his eyes quickly away as she stood up again. "If I get enough work done on my article."

"Oh yeah," Fitz nodded. "When's the submission deadline?" He leaned out of her way as she reached across him for the sugar on the shelf above the stove. 

"A week Thursday," she sighed as she stirred and took a sip. She turned to the counter again and hefted a loaf of bread. "Toast?"

"Please," he nodded. "You want some bacon, too?"

Jemma looked from the pan to his face and back to the pan. "That  _isn't_ for both of us?" she asked with a touch of incredulity. 

Fitz shrugged and transferred the cooked meat to a paper-covered plate so the grease could drip off. "Depends," he said. "Did you want more than one piece?" 

She smacked him lightly on the arm and rolled her eyes. "Do I have to bring out those studies on the effects of cholesterol on coronary health again?" she asked as she popped some bread in the toaster. 

"Ugh," he shook his head. "Please don't. I might never eat again if you do." 

He cracked an egg into the bacon grease and jumped back in pain as the coolness of the egg meeting the heat of the oil caused it to spit out at him. 

" _Jesus!_ " he cursed, shaking his hand in pain. 

Jemma sucked in a breath of sympathy and immediately took his hand between both of hers. "Let me see," she told him, dragging him over to the sink. She turned on the cold water and pushed his hand under it, watching to see if a blister formed. 

The sharp sting of the hot oil receded to be replaced by the thrilling tingle of her holding his hand. It was ridiculous and he knew it, but he felt it all the same. 

This crush is getting  _seriously_ out of control. 

Once she was satisfied that he wasn't gravely wounded, Jemma turned off the tap and gently dabbed his hand dry with a towel. "There," she said with an efficient smile. She patted his hand and then brought it up to her lips for a kiss. "All better." 

"Thanks," he said a bit weakly, staring at the lip-shaped pinky-red imprint now covering the small welt from the oil. He swallowed and turned back to the frying pan. "So, eggs?"


	7. Study Habits

"Fitz?" Jemma called from the bathroom, and he looked up from his computer. 

"Yeah?" he called back.

"Can you come in here for moment?" she asked him, and her voice seemed a bit strained. 

Frowning, he stood up and peered at her through the hallway door. "Problem?" he asked. 

"Just wondering," she said, stifling a chuckle and pointing to her newly decorated wall. "What this is?"

Fitz grinned self-consciously and brushed the hair at the back of his neck. "Uh, yeah," he said awkwardly. "About that," he gave her a slightly pleading look. "Is that alright?"

She shook her head with a resigned smile. "It really helps you?" she asked, not for the first time.

"It really does!" he confirmed for the hundredth. 

"Alright," she gave in. "But move the one in the shower will you? And put my shelf back."

"Oh, about that," he started.

"Yes?"

"Well, I was just wondering if you wanted me to take a look at your plumbing there. It sounded a bit funny this morning. Like the water pressure's off?" 

It was an innocent question, innocently asked but you'd think he'd said the most shocking thing ever with the way her eyes widened and her whole face went red. 

"It's fine," she said, and her voice was a bit higher than usual. "It just..." her mouth opened and closed twice and her eyes shifted around the room. "... Does that sometimes?" she asked, and she sounded a bit desperate.

He raised his eyebrows and gave her a skeptical look. She was definitely lying, but he had no idea what about. Since when was water pressure something to be embarrassed about. "Are you sure?" he asked, wondering if maybe she just didn't want him to think he 'owed' her for crashing at her place. "I don't mind. Really."

"I'm _sure_ ," she said positively. "Anyway, I'll move the one in the shower. I didn't mean to interrupt your work."

Fitz tilted his head and squinted at her. She'd just asked  _him_ to move it, and now she was offering to do it herself? What was she playing at? "I've got it, Jemma," he said in a slightly patronizing tone. "You go back to your article. Your cutoff's tighter than mine."

Jemma looked down at her denim shorts and his eyes followed hers. They really were quite tight. And short. And they sat kind of low on her hips, so when she'd bent over to look in the fridge that morning, he'd seen her tho...

He cleared his throat. "Deadline, I mean. Your deadline's tighter than mine."

"Oh," she blinked and blushed again. "Right. My deadline. Of course." She looked at him again, and it seemed like she was going to say something else, but then she just smiled and said, "Thanks."

Fitz turned to the shower and went about moving his schematic to a different wall. 

\---------------------

Jemma set up shop on her sofa, spreading her research out across the coffee table and cushions and lining up her pens and highlighters in a neat row. She focused on making all of her piles sit perpendicular to each other, their edges lined up. Breathing deeply, she willed her blush to dissipate.

She glanced quickly over to the bathroom to make sure that Fitz was still in there, and then she grabbed a throw pillow from the couch and smothered her face with it to moan out loud.

He wanted to look at her _plumbing_.

Oh god. Since when  had she been one to engage in horrible double entendres like  _that_?

And her water pressure sounded off!

She moaned into the pillow again. It wasn't the water pressure so much as the fact that she'd taken the shower head off of the wall and used it to...

She blushed bright red again and bounced the pillow off her face a few times. 

Obviously, she wouldn't be doing that again while Fitz was here. He'd put it together eventually, and then what would she say?

_Sorry, Fitz, but I just had to rinse off my nether regions because they'd gotten so wet thinking about you, and then one thing led to another and I masturbated to a lovely orgasm in the shower while pretending the stream of water was your tongue._

She groaned into the pillow one more time.

"You sure you're alright, Jemma?" Fitz asked from somewhere behind her.

She froze with her face still buried in the pillow. "'m fine," she mumbled into the cloth. 

"You seem a bit stressed," he observed mildly.

"Maybe a bit?" she admitted, still not looking up.

"Want some ice cream?" he offered.

She nodded into the pillow.

"And a cookie?"

She nodded again.

"Fitz's Special Study Sundae Extraordinaire?"

That got her to look up. She hadn't had one of  _those_ since they'd graduated from the Academy! She flashed him her biggest grin. "Really?" she asked, as excited as a kid at Christmas. 

Fitz laughed and nodded. "Really," he promised. "You want the works?"

"Yes, please!" she clapped her hands together excitedly and started to get up from the floor where she'd been sitting. 

"You stay there," he ordered, pointing a finger at her. "No getting up until you've worked on your paper, you hear?"

She rolled her eyes and smiled good-naturedly. "Fitz," she said in her most long-suffering tone. "I'm not a first-year cadet anymore, I don't need you to force me to do my work."

Fitz rolled his eyes back. "First of all," he began, "Even when you were a first-year cadet, no one  _forced_ you to do your work." He shook his head ruefully. "I swear, you liked homework more than  _life itself_."

She opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off.

"And second of all," he continued. "I know how hard you've worked on this paper, and I'm not going to let you give up on it just because you hate editing it down."

"But-"

"No buts."

"... Fine."

"And no pouting, either!"


	8. Gone Swimming

Fitz grumbled as they made their way along the path at the back of Jemma's building. She had a perfectly good,  _working_ air conditioner up there. He didn't see why they had to  _leave_ it just because it was 'such a nice day outside!' He wiped a sweaty forearm across his even sweatier forehead and then swatted a mosquito from his leg. No day was nice enough to have to put up with this kind of torture. Really, if he wanted to enjoy the sunshine, all he had to do was look out a window.

Jemma unlocked the gate ahead of them and held it open for him to pass through, and then they were standing on a deck with some nice but definitely worn patio furniture, a BBQ, and a large pool. 

"Perfect," she said with a satisfied sigh as she spotted two loungers next to each other. "C'mon, Fitz!"

Fitz rolled his head back and blew out a breath, mentally calculating how long he'd have to stay out here to make her happy. Five minutes? Ten? He trudged along behind her and collapsed on the deck chair in much the same way that a sack of potatoes might collapse on a floor. "Ugh."

"Oh, give it up," Jemma rolled her eyes, settling back on her own recliner and smiling up at the sun. "It's a perfectly  _lovely_ day, and this is  _not_  some kind of hardship."

"Says  _you_ ," he replied belligerently. " _You_ weren't drenched in bloody sweat five seconds after we left the building." He looked down at his arms, already looking slightly pinker than they had a few minutes before. "And  _you're_ not burning to a crisp in all this blasted sun!"

Jemma gave him the carefully blank look she used when he was annoying her but she was determined to enjoy herself. "You are  _not_ 'burning to a crisp' after five bloody minutes, Fitz," she argued, reaching into her bag. "But if you're  _that_ concerned, then  _here_." She tossed him her bottle of sunblock. 

Fitz opened the bottle with unnecessary ferocity and glared at her as he squirted some lotion onto his hands. "Yeah, well," he groused, "If I  _do_ burn, I'm blaming  _you!"_ he jabbed an accusatory finger in her direction. A glob of sunblock wobbled on the end before dropping down onto his leg. God, the stuff was disgusting. All sticky and oily and getting everywhere. If he were inside right now, he wouldn't have to butter himself up like some kind of dinner roll.

"Fine," she replied with a total lack of concern, grabbing the bottle back and taking a squirt. She started rubbing it into her legs and said matter-of-factly, "But you said that if I got my article down to 9,000 words, we would do whatever I want, and I want to enjoy at least part of my weekend outside in the fresh air."

"Yeah, well," his tone was still annoyed, but his expression was rather lost. He really hadn't expected her to choose sunbathing. He'd figured shopping or maybe a movie or something? Hit up one of the museums downtown? "I... thought you... would... Just, shut up, okay?" he gave up with a sheepish grin. 

"Shutting up," Jemma grinned back and reached down for the bottom of her shirt. 

Fitz gulped as she pulled it up and over her head, her back arching wonderfully and her breasts jutting out just so. He sent out a mental thank-you to whatever genius it was in the history of the world who invented the bikini. Whoever it was was a _saint_. 

"Are you sure you don't want to go swimming?" Jemma asked, squirting out more sunblock and this time rubbing it onto her arms and chest. 

"No trunks," Fitz said weakly. When she'd suggested it, he hadn't really thought through all of the implications vis a vis her wearing a bathing suit and had instead been focused on the fact that the pool was outside and outside was a horrible, hellish place of awful. Now that outside was being occupied by Jemma in a bikini, however, he was reconsidering his views. 

Jemma shrugged and he waged an internal battle with himself as he struggled not to watch what that shrug did to her newly-visible anatomy. "Well, if you change your mind," she continued, smoothing the stuff over her stomach, "I'm sure you could just wear your shorts and no one would mind." She stood up and unbuttoned her cutoffs, wiggling her hips as she slid them off. 

Fitz stared at her belly-button, now at eye-level, and resisted the urge to lean forward and kiss it. 

"You mind?" Jemma asked, and his eyes shot immediately up to her face. 

"What?" he asked, panicking that he might have accidentally voiced his internal monologue. 

She held the sunblock out to him. "Can you do my back for me?" she asked, turning around and now it was her ass that was right in front of him. 

"Sure?" he said, uncertainly, and he winced as his voice cracked slightly.

He cleared his throat and squirted some lotion onto his palm as Jemma settled herself face first onto her lounger. 

"Thanks," she said, pulling her ponytail out of his way. 

"Right," he said, stalling by rubbing the lotion between his hands. The pinky-red colour of her lipstick still stained the back of his hand, and he tried not to look at it, just like he'd been trying not to do all day. "So, I should just..." he took a breath.

"Oh!" Jemma said, lifting her head up from where it had been resting on her folded towel. "I suppose this is in the way," she said, reaching behind herself and undoing the strap across her back before settling back down again.

Fitz stared at her bare back, the sides of her breasts now slightly visible, and tried to breathe normally. "Uh huh," he agreed, not trusting himself to use actual words. He gulped and licked his lips as his fingers flexed in the air above her back. She was practically _naked_ , and he was going to  _touch_ her, and she  _wanted_ him to and...

And he needed to get a grip because asking someone to put sunscreen on your back was not an invitation to lust after them or push your own sexual fantasies on them.

Clenching his teeth together, he steeled himself. With a firm nod and a knot in his stomach, he reached out to her shoulders.  

\------------------------------

Jemma took a deep breath and ducked under the water again to change direction. 

Swimming laps usually helped her clear her mind, but today it didn't seem to be helping a jot. 

This crush was taking up entire too much of her mental processing power and taking her mind away from more important things like her article. She'd thought long and hard about it after her shower and decided that she needed to know once and for all whether or not anything was going to come of it, and so she'd made herself as physically appealing as possible. 

And he hadn't even noticed!

She'd done everything short of stripping naked and asking if he wanted a go, and he still didn't seem to register that she was a girl. 

Honestly. A thong? A bikini? Undoing her top? If she had to work  _this_ hard to get his attention, he obviously wasn't feeling very  _attentive_ and she should just leave him in peace. 

But then he'd look at her and...

All her life, she'd heard the expression, "If looks could kill..." but no one ever said, "If looks could  _fuck_..."

A shiver ran through her, and she paused in her laps, looking over at Fitz with a smile and a wave. He glanced up from his phone and waved back, clearly only staying out here for her benefit. But then, just as she was about to duck back into the water again, he looked at her like  _that_ and she had to take another breath. How could he look at her like that and _not_ want more?

\------------------------------

"...you're sure?" Fitz asked, splitting his attention between the conversation with his landlord and watching Jemma swim. "Friday? Really?" The whole week, then. Five more days of staying at Jemma's. Five more nights of knowing what she was wearing while she slept in the next room. Five more mornings of hearing her in the shower and trying not to imagine what that looked like. Somewhere in the neighbourhood of 120 more hours of having to control himself for every waking moment. 

Maybe he should just  _tell_ her?

Would it be totally ridiculous to ask her to go back to her oversized PJ's while he was around? Or maybe put on her robe? Like, was that something he could ask her to do? Because really, it was  _his_ problem not hers, and she shouldn't have to change her life just because he couldn't control his damn _dick_ around her.

He scowled at himself. 

Out in the pool, Jemma rose up out of the water like some kind of god damn mermaid and waved at him. God, she had a great smile.

"Alright," he agreed, waving back at her with a smile. "Friday."

He was about to hang up when he thought of something else. "But you're going to pro-rate the rent for the month, right?"


	9. Burn Baby Burn

Fitz lay on his stomach and pondered the intricacies of proper lotion application.

When Jemma had asked him for help with her sunscreen, of _course_ his brain had dropped straight into his shorts, especially after she undid her top. That wide expanse of bare skin, soft and pale and freckled, had done things to him. He'd wanted to run his tongue along the channel of her spine, starting at her bottom and moving right up to her neck, pushing himself into her ass when he finished his journey. He'd imagined an entire scenario in the time it took her to resettle back on the lounger, and then he'd cursed himself out for doing it.

He'd made a hash of the sunscreen, as a result of all of the distraction. Way too much on his hands and the stuff getting everywhere. Jemma had actually started to get up to look when he'd first put his hands on her, there was that much. Of course, she'd stopped almost as soon as she'd started. Almost. There was a half second there when she'd raised up off the recliner and her top had stayed behind and he'd seen a whole lot more than he ever thought he would. Of course, she'd resettled almost immediately, blushing bright red and sputtering something nonsensical, but he'd seen. He'd seen, and he was having a devil of a time forgetting it.

He'd spread a thick coating of sunscreen all over her back, massaging it into her neck and shoulders and stuttering to a stop every time she moaned. He wondered if she knew what that sounded like, but he figured she probably didn't. If she did, she'd stop, right? Right.

Anyway, spending ten minutes spreading his slick hands all over her back, from her hips to her neck, had been sort of the highlight of his week. Maybe his month. Depending on the reception of his most recent set up schematics, perhaps even his year.

Of course, if he ended up designing a Bus for Nick Fury himself, that'd take top spot. But this afternoon would be a close second.

Even though he'd ended up dropping the sunscreen bottle 4 separate times because his hands were so oily.

But that was this afternoon and now was this evening and things had changed.

" _Ow!_ " he hissed in a sharp breath. " _Careful,_ Jemma!"

\--------------------

Jemma sighed. Earlier that day when she'd been thinking about the possibility of getting Fitz into her bed, this really hadn't been what she was thinking of.

"Don't be such a baby," she said dismissively as she touched the pink skin of his back experimentally. "It's not that bad of a burn."

"Not that bad?" Fitz asked, his tone indicating that she'd lost her faculties. "You're not the one whose back is _on fire_."

"If you'd just let me..." she blew her hair out of her face in frustration. "This aloe gel will make it _all_ better, I promise." Especially since she'd modified it with her own experimental formula. Thankfully, Fitz had long ago given her carte blanche to test her remedies on him... as long as none of the ingredients were something he would deem 'gross.'

He lifted his face from her pillow to give her a skeptical look. " _Promise_?" he asked, wanting definitive confirmation.

"My word as an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." she replied, crossing her heart solemnly.

"Alright," he conceded, settling back down. "Just-" he lifted his head again. "Be _gentle_ , okay?"

She chuckled affectionately and pushed his head back down again. " _Yes_ , Fitz. I _know_."

She climbed up onto her bed and straddled his prone form, sitting down on the rather convenient seat his bum made.

"What are you-?!" he practically shrieked, his head coming off of her pillow like a shot.

Once more, she planted it back where it had been.

"Well, I can't very well reach you from over there, can I?" she asked, jerking her thumb to the edge of the bed.

"Nooo," he admitted slowly. "But-"

"But?"

"It's just..."

"Yes?"

"..."

"I see. Point well made."

"Ha. Ha. Shut it."

"Now if I could just get on with it?"

" _Fine._ "

"Gracious as ever in defeat."

He harumphed into her pillow case but otherwise stopped arguing.

Jemma grinned proudly in victory and squirted some of the cool gel directly onto his back.

" _Gentle_ I said!" he half-shouted.

"Sorry!" she apologized quickly, then started smoothing it over his back. "How's that?" she asked as her fingers moved over his shoulders and neck.

"S'okay," he mumbled, his eyes drifting closed.

She massaged it gently into his pink skin, marveling at how warm it was to her touch. Perhaps his burn was worse than it looked? He couldn't really be that hot all the time could he?

"Too hot, hot damn," she sang to herself under her breath.

"Wha'?" Fitz asked, yawning.

"Nothing," she said quickly. "Don't worry about it!"

She spread the gel on her hands first this time and then rubbed it into his shoulder blades.

"Mmm," he sighed, and he seemed to be rapidly falling asleep.

Her hands trailed down his ribs and along the notch of his spine until they reached the point at his hips where his back flared out to her current seat, and she was stopped from going further by the waistband of his shorts.

She bit her lip and looked down at him. She probably shouldn't...

But the poor thing was half-dead with exhaustion from waking up at 4 the previous day and then what was probably a less-than-comfortable night's sleep on her living room sofa.

She was just being helpful, wasn't she?

"Turn over and I'll do your front," she said casually, rising up on her knees to give him room to maneuver.

Fitz mumbled something and yawned again, twisting himself over to lie on his back.

Jemma settled back down on him after a slight shift of her own so that she was sitting on his thighs instead of his...

"Jemma!" Fitz's eyes opened wide as soon as she made contact, and he sat halfway up, supporting himself on his elbows. "What are you-?!"

Jemma blushed and scooted further back along his legs to his knees. She held up the bottle of gel in defense. "I was going to do your front," she said, and she hoped her voice sounded less breathy and more sure to him than it did to her.

Fitz's face was redder than his back and he snatched the bottle out of her hand. "I think I can manage that myself," he said, and his voice seemed a bit higher-pitched than usual.

"Are you s-"

" _I'm sure_."

Jemma dismounted him awkwardly and stepped off her bed. "I'll just go make us some dinner then, shall I?" she asked, trying to sound perfectly normal and admitting she probably failed miserably.

"... And then maybe stick my head in the oven," she mumbled to herself once she'd reached the kitchen.

She'd been so _good_ at flirting and seduction back at the Academy. Why was she so _bad_ at it now?


	10. As Friends Do

Jemma stabbed awkwardly at her salad and didn't look at Fitz. She'd gone too far, pushed too much, and now things were  _uncomfortable._  

Taking a deep breath, she decided to just plunge ahead. "Fitz, I-"

"I'm sorry," he interrupted her quickly. 

"What?" she asked, completely confused. Why on earth was  _he_  aplogising when she was the one-

"For being weird," he continued, looking miserably at his salad. 

"For-?"  _He_ was being weird? But  _she_ -

"Before."

"Be-?" All he'd done was react like a normal person when she'd-

"With the gel stuff and you on my back and stuff," he glanced up at her quickly before blushing and staring back at his appetizer. 

"You mean when I-" She felt another stab of guilt in her stomach when she remembered taking advantage of his sleepy state. 

"When you were trying to help me," he nodded. "It's just..." he blew out a breath and ran his fingers through his hair. 

Jemma was tempted to take advantage of the opportunity to interrupt  _him_ for a change, but she was so fascinated by the direction he was taking them in that she couldn't quite form a coherent sentence. 

"Look," Fitz continued, blushing redder through the light pink of his sunburn. "Sometimes, when... when a  _bloke_..." he broke off and searched for the right words. "I mean, when a pretty girl... _woman_..." he paused again, wincing visibly. He looked up again with an expression of mute appeal. _  
_

Jemma lowered her chin and raised her brows, trying to figure out where he was going with this. "Yeeees?" she asked, drawing the vowel out in hopes of drawing out more information. 

"It's just," Fitz burst out in frustration as he twirled his fork between his fingers. "You're my  _best friend_ , and I didn't want my..." he swallowed hard and stared fixedly at the table, "My  _biology_ to make things weird between us, is all."

Jemma blinked as his implication sank in. "Oh," she said mildly, not quite sure how else to respond. "Your..." she waved a vague hand toward his lap. 

Fitz nodded miserably, still not looking up.

"And you were worried about...?"

He nodded again.

"Because I was...?"

Another nod.

"And you didn't want to...?"

A shake.

"Oh."

"Oh?" he glanced up carefully, obviously worried she'd be angry with him. 

Well then. She had her answer, and he'd saved her the trouble of having to ask the question. That was nice of him. Considerate, even. _Friendly_. 

Because they were  _friends_ , of course.  _Best_ friends. God, she was an idiot.

She smiled at him and patted the back of his hand gently. "No harm done," she reassured him, and then she got up to serve the curry. 

At least this way, he didn't need to know about her crush on him. 

Now she just had to figure out how to get over it. 

\-------------------------

Jemma really was just the best. 

He'd flat-out  _told_ her that he was pitching a tent with her on his lap, and she'd just shrugged it off like it was no big deal. How cool was that?

He grinned as he dug into his curry with gusto.  _And_ she made the second-best curry he'd ever had. Right after his mum's.

They chatted animatedly about TV and movies, work and life, items in the news, the latest scientific discoveries, and he just kept coming back to how amazing she was. Clever and funny and beautiful and everything, and totally not at all bothered by her best friend's erection.

Slowly, as the evening wore on, he couldn't help but wonder  _why_  she wasn't bothered.

\-------------------------

Okay. So snuggling with him on the sofa probably wasn't the best way to get over a crush, but really. She'd been doing it for  _years_. If she suddenly decided that personal space was a thing she worried about with him, he'd think he really  _had_ freaked her out with that whole aloe gel experience.

Really, curling up against his side and resting her head on his shoulder was the best thing she could do to maintain their friendship. Logically speaking.

Besides, he just made such a good pillow.

\-------------------------

Fitz cursed under his breath as he scanned Jemma's bookshelves for something to read. He should have paid more attention to her reorganization project because the Terry Pratchetts used to be  _right here_ , and now he was staring at... He tilted his head. Ugh. Organic Chemistry. He shook his head vehemently. He'd survived Orgo back in uni, but he wasn't going to sign up for more of the stuff at midnight on a Sunday just because he was having trouble sleeping. 

He was about to try one of the other half dozen shelves in her living room when he saw a paperback poking out from behind one of her houseplants. He was immediately curious because it wasn't like Jemma to have something out of place. Especially not right after she'd organized things.  _  
_

Pushing the plant aside, he grabbed the book and pulled it out.  _Chemistry_. Hah! So  _that's_ where she'd hidden it. He grinned and fanned the pages absentmindedly with his thumb. 

He glanced quickly toward her bedroom, but the door was closed and he hadn't heard a peep out of her since at least 11. He could probably risk it. As long as he didn't do anything about it.

\-------------------------

> _"Oh, Leonard," Jenna panted, her chest heaving with desire. His lips crashed down on hers, and she was lost._
> 
> _"Jenna," he moaned into her ear, cradling the orb of her breast in his hand. His thumb and forefinger tweaked the eraser-nub of her nipple, and she shivered pliantly in his arms. The heat of her mound burned against his manhood, and his hips surged forward with need._
> 
> _"I feel so empty without you inside me," she gasped, reaching down for his tumescence._
> 
> _He shuddered in her hand, leaning down to take her nipple in his mouth and lave it with his tongue. "And I feel so cold without your heat surrounding me," he groaned in response._
> 
> _His hands grasped her hips tightly, lifting her and pressing her against the wall, and then her legs were wrapping around him and drawing him into her. His turgid organ pressed inside her, and it was like he was wrapped in warm, wet velvet._
> 
> _They both gasped at the feeling._

 

Fitz put the book down, resting it open-faced on his chest as he lay on the couch. "Wet velvet?" he blinked, nonplussed. 

"It's a good thing the science is accurate," he shook his head before picking it back up again. "Because the sex could use a little work."


	11. Wake Up Call

Jemma knew she should go to sleep, but instead she buried her face in her pillow and breathed deeply. 

God, he smelled good. 

She took another deep breath, and the scent tingled down her chest before punching her in the gut. 

She tried to remember things like pheromones and scent chemistry, but she was too busy remembering Fitz being in her bed to really care. 

She didn't really  _have_ to get over her crush, did she? She just had to not  _act_ on it. Right? 

She breathed in again and shivered. 

What if he actually  _had_ gotten hard when she was straddling him? If he hadn't gotten worried and told her to get off? If he'd let it happen?

_Sometimes, when a bloke and a pretty woman..._

She buried her face in her pillow and breathed deeply, pushing her hips down onto the mattress. 

What if, instead of moving back to his knees, she'd moved forward...

Her hand squeezed down along her stomach and between her legs, and she breathed in again. 

Maybe when he sat up, he would have grabbed her ass...

Her hips swirled in a tight circle, her hand pressing just right, as her imagination took over. 

Fitz's hand squeezed her ass and pulled her tighter against him as her hands grabbed his face to pull it toward her. Their lips met in a hungry kiss and her hands tangled in his hair. His hard cock strained against his shorts and pressed wonderfully up against her, and they both groaned at the feeling. His hands slid up her back, taking her shirt with them. Their lips pulled apart so her shirt could come off, and as he threw it across the room, she unsnapped her bra. 

His hands immediately slid under her now-loosened cups, his thumbs rubbing against her nipples, and she arched her back to push herself into his hands as she slid the straps down her arms and off. Her bra joined her shirt in the pile on the floor, and she reached down to undo the fly on his shorts. They both gasped when she reached inside his fly and pulled him out, and neither of them could wait. 

Raising up on her knees, she pushed her own shorts and panties down over her ass and squirmed free of them as Fitz leaned forward and captured a nipple in his mouth. Soon, although not soon enough for either of them, she returned to her perch in his lap but this time there was nothing separating them. She groaned and buried her face in his shoulder as he buried his cock inside of her.

And then they were moving. She rose up on his length until he almost fell out and then dropped down on him again. Their lips met again as she repeated her movements, and his hands moved over her breasts, her back, her hips, and her ass. His tongue did wonderful things in her mouth and his cock felt so  _good_ inside her. Her hips pushed down and down and down and the feeling insider her grew and grew and grew, and then...

She buried her face in her pillow and breathed deeply as she shuddered around her fingers.

_I didn't want my biology to make things weird between us..._

She panted out a satisfied breath and rolled over onto her back. 

She was pretty sure _that_ wouldn't be weird.

\-----------------------

Fitz woke up with a start and batted something off of his face. The book. That bloody book. He'd read it until he'd fallen asleep. At first, it was just laughable; more interesting because of the scientific concepts being discussed than because of the purple prose. But the more he read about Jenna and Leonard the hotter those scenes became, and by the time he got to the one in the emergency shower he'd had to put the book down or else "handle" the situation. 

And now here it was, he lifted his watch from the coffee table to see the time, a quarter to 6am and he might as well just get up for work. 

But Jemma wouldn't be getting up until closer to 7... 

He bit his lip. 

There  _was_ time...

He looked over at her bedroom door. It was closed, and so was the one to the bathroom.

If he got himself 'ready' first, he wouldn't be in the shower that long...

He huffed out a breath and stared at the book on his chest. 

Aw, screw it. 

He reached down and grabbed the blanket from where he'd tossed it on the floor in his sleep, draping it over his bent knees to afford him some privacy in case Jemma  _did_ come through the living room to get a glass of water from the kitchen or something. 

Settling down onto the sofa cushions, he reached into his boxers for his soft cock. He closed his eyes and gave it a bit of a tug as he tried to decide what to think about. It didn't take him long to decide that Leonard and Jenna weren't going to cut it when the real thing was lying in the next room. 

He grinned to himself as he remembered the way she'd moaned over that sundae he'd made her. God, the way her eyes rolled back in her head when she licked the chocolate sauce off of the spoon. He'd been pretending to work, but he couldn't stop staring at her. The way she ate - coffee, ice cream, fucking  _curry_ , whatever - was so fucking sexy it should be illegal. She just... She moaned and she shivered and she licked with that little pink tongue, and he was a goner. 

He tugged a bit harder now, rubbing his thumb through his precum and using it to slick his hand's journey up and down the shaft. 

If he poured chocolate sauce on himself, would she lick it up just as enthusiastically? Would her eyes roll back like that if he were eating ice cream off her chest? Would she moan loud and long if she were eating his cock instead of a curry? Would she shiver like that if it was his tongue doing the licking?

He let out a groan as a shudder ran through him. He was pumping himself hard and fast now, and if he weren't careful he'd make a mess all over Jemma's quilt and how would he explain  _that_?

With a sigh, he tossed off the blanket and padded over to her bathroom, his hard cock making a ridiculous tent in the front of his boxers. 

Thank god for showers. 

\-----------------------

Jemma woke up at 6am and sat up in bed, stretching out her arms. She didn't usually wake up this early, but she also didn't usually have a house guest, and she wanted to be finished in the bathroom when Fitz woke up for his own morning routine. She tossed off her blankets and then smoothed them back in place before padding into the bathroom for her shower. 

She turned on the water to let it get to temperature and then turned to strip off her pajamas and put them in her hamper. Instead, she saw a pile of Fitz's clothes on the floor where her hamper usually resided. Right. She'd done her laundry the day before. She must have forgotten to bring the hamper back in. With a shrug, she returned to her room to get it. 

\-----------------------

Fitz finally managed to find his razor in the bottom of his duffel and returned to the bathroom to continue getting ready. He frowned at the shower. Had he turned it on? He didn't remember doing it, but he supposed he must have. He shrugged his way out of his tshirt and stripped off his shorts, adding them to the pile of dirty clothes he had under the bathroom counter. Then, he pulled aside the shower curtain and stepped under the spray.

\-----------------------

Jemma struggled with opening the door from her bedroom to her bathroom while still holding her hamper. She'd have to get Fitz to take a look at the thing. It just wouldn't stay open. She scooped his clothes off the floor and into the hamper and then slid it into place under the counter before adding her pajamas to the top of the pile. 

She pushed a hand in past the shower curtain to test the water temperature, and deeming it warm enough, she stepped inside. 


	12. Cliff Hung

Normally, Fitz would wash his hair and body and give himself a shave before he indulged in his morning wank, but he wasn't normally this _ready to go_ when he entered the shower.

With a sure grip, he took his hard cock in his fist. His eyes closed and his head bowed under the spray that ran down his back and over his ass. His stomach tightened along with his hand, and he sped up his movements, aching for release. He wasn't going to last long.

"Fuck yes, J-"

He was cut off by a shriek.

\------------------------

Jemma stepped into the shower and froze. She blinked once, twice, three times and her brain took photos with each blink.

  1. Fitz's head bowed under the water, his curls twisted tight in their dampness and his eyelashes dark and thick against his cheeks.
  2. Fitz's chest, still pink with his burn, covered in rivulets of water making a path down to the patch of hair bellow his belly button.
  3. Fitz's _cock_ , big and hard and red and peaking out of his hand as he stroked it.



And then he spoke and the spell was broken and she shrieked.

\------------------------

His head snapped up, eyes opening immediately in shock. His foot slipped on the wet bath, and he got a quick glimpse of dark hair and pink flesh as he tilted backwards and cracked his head on the tile.

"Sonofa-"

"Fitz!"

"What are-"

"-up at this-"

"- were asleep! I-"

"-n't _dream_ -"

He groaned and, keeping his eyes closed and one hand trying to retain his modesty, he gingerly touched the back of his head.

Jemma sucked in a sympathetic breath. "Ooh, that must hurt."

Fitz nodded and immediately had to put his hands out to grab the wall lest he fall down.

"Let me see."

"What?" His eyes popped open again and his hands met between his legs to cover his cock. Without their support on the wall, his knees wobbled and he collapsed. "Fuck!" And now his knees hurt, too.

\------------------------

"Stop moving!" Jemma tutted. He was going to do some serious damage if he didn't stop flailing around like that.

She pursed her lips and considered her options. She currently had one arm crossed over her breasts and gripping her shoulder and her other hand between her legs giving her as much cover as she could hope for.

But Fitz had a head wound and that wasn't the sort of thing you just left without looking at.

Besides, she'd already seen everything _he_ had to offer. She might as well put them on even footing.

She let her hands drop to her side before reaching out gently for the back of his head to pull him closer. 

\------------------------

"Jemma..." Fitz said with a tone of warning. Did she not realize that he was naked? That _she_ was naked? And they were in the _shower_? **Together?** He was doing his very best not to remember Jenna and Leonard and the emergency shower, but it was just a bit difficult when he was at eye level with Jemma's...

"Gah!" he shouted when she prodded the knot on the back of his head.

"Oh, hush," Jemma shushed him. And then she was leaning over and her tits were right there and they were _naked_ and _wet_ and _hers_ and her nipples were this light sort of brown colour that reminded him of toffee, and boy did he ever want to taste them.

"But-"

"I've got an ice pack in the freezer," she said. "We can get it after."

Fitz blinked and looked up at her face. Did she mean...?

"...After?" His eyebrows were practically in his hairline.

"After we shower," she said matter-of-factly, reaching down and helping him up. She didn't seem to be making the same effort he was at keeping her eyes front, either.

He gulped. "...We?"

\------------------------

"Mmhmm," Jemma nodded, head tilted to the side. She needed to stop staring at him.

She couldn't stop staring at him.

He shifted a bit and recupped himself, seeking better coverage. "You mean...?"

"I suppose I should let you go first," she said, finally looking up to his face and smiling. There. She'd managed it. Well done, Jemma. Eye contact.

She was a horrible friend and she was probably going to hell.

He heaved a sigh of relief. "... Right." 

And yet... was that disappointment?

\------------------------

Jemma turned to leave, and his eyes dropped down to her ass. Her perfect, _perfect_ ass.

She paused with one leg out of the shower and held onto the curtain as she turned to look back at him. He somehow managed to blush even more than he had been as he guiltily raised his eyes to her face.

He was a bad, bad man. He ought to be arrested, the thoughts he was thinking.

"It wasn't, you know," she said smiling.

"What?" he asked, no idea what she was talking about.

She glanced again at what his hands were covering before looking back at his face. "Weird."


	13. React

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the delayed posting - life did not cooperate over the weekend

Jemma clipped her wet hair up and out of the way and tied her robe around her before exiting the bathroom. Her face was full of a wide smile. She'd done it! She walked purposefully out into her living room, closing the door over behind her. 

Two steps later, her smile faltered and her pace slowed down. She'd done it. 

The blood drained from her face as the adrenaline left her system, and suddenly she felt the need to sit down. Oh god, she'd  _done_ it. 

She collapsed in a heap on her sofa and buried her face in a pillow to muffle her scream.  _What_ had she  _done_??

\---------------------------

Fitz stood in frozen shock, feeling the water pelt down on his back, as Jemma puttered around the bathroom for a moment before leaving. 

 _It wasn't weird_.

Did she mean...?

He looked down to where his hands were providing him with the only modesty he had left. And Jemma had  _seen_ that... seen  _more_ than that, really, when he'd been flailing about like an idiot. And it wasn't weird?

His brows, so far knit together in embarrassment and confusion, relaxed in surprised contemplation. 

It wasn't weird. 

\---------------------------

Yesterday, she'd sarcastically thought about stripping off her clothes and asking him if he wanted a go and now...! Now she'd only gone and done basically that!

She moaned again into the pillow and gave the couch cushion a punch, for good measure. 

A soft thunk caught her attention, and she lifted her head up from its miserable location. 

Still, it could have been worse, she supposed.  _He_  could have walked in on  _her_ wanking, after all, if their positions had been reversed. 

She cursed herself for not containing her shriek until after he'd said whatever he'd been about to say. 'Fuck yes J-' left a lot of possibilities.

And only one of them was Jemma.

\---------------------------

 He started to rethink the last couple of days. 

Jemma had always sat next to him during movie nights, even going so far as to fall asleep on his shoulder or lap on more than one occasion. But last night, she'd wrapped her arms around him and his arm had ended up around her somehow. He'd spent two hours trying to rest it as lightly as possible so that she wouldn't notice it, but she only squeezed up next to him even closer. That, of course, had made him worry that she'd notice his heart beating faster or his cock getting half-hard, and so he'd focused even more intently on the screen. 

And then there was the fact that he was constantly looking away from her because he didn't want her to catch him looking. But now that he thought about it, the reason _why_ he had to look away all the time was because  _she_ was looking at  _him_. 

And he was almost positive that Jemma had once said that bathing suits were for swimming and bikinis were for getting attention. But she'd been wearing a bikini yesterday. And his was the only attention around. 

And she wore makeup! Until recently, she'd only really done that for dates. 

But then, she hadn't really been dating, either. She spent most of her Saturday nights watching Netflix with him.

He tried to remember the last Saturday night they  _hadn't_ been together.

\---------------------------

Her eye caught the corner of a book poking out from under the blanket she'd knocked to the floor. Fitz must have been reading something last night. 

Taking a deep breath, she told herself to pull it together. So she'd made it  _abundantly_ clear that she wanted more with Fitz. And she'd done it at probably the worst possible moment. And he probably thought she'd walked into his shower on purpose into order to  _throw herself_ at him or something. And, to be fair, she basically  _had_. 

But that didn't mean that she had to fall apart. No. 

With another deep breath, she stood up from the sofa. She reached down for the blanket and folded it neatly, draping it over the arm. Then, she bent down to pick up the book. 

_Chemistry._

She gasped out loud. He really  _had_ read it. 

And that J- was probably Jenna. 

\---------------------------

People always assumed they were dating. They thought they were a couple just because they spent time together and worked well together and finished each other's sentences. They'd been hearing the questions and matter-of-fact statements since they were at the Academy, and they always responded the same way. 

Jemma would scoff and roll her eyes and Fitz would categorically deny. 

But two weeks ago, they'd had a visiting scholar in residence at the Academy, and they'd attended the lecture and stayed after for the wine and cheese. And when the esteemed lecturer had asked them how long they'd been married,  _he_ had categorically denied, but Jemma had...

Fitz frowned as he tried to remember. Had she  _blushed_?

She'd blushed, and he'd been so busy trying to cover up his own awkward embarrassment that he hadn't noticed it. 

How long had this been going on?

\---------------------------

 Jemma busied herself in the kitchen putting the coffee on. Yes, there'd be an awkward moment or two when Fitz came out and told her in no uncertain terms just how  _weird_ that had been. But their friendship had weathered stranger things in the past. It would weather this as well. 

Oh god, she hoped she hadn't messed everything up. 

\---------------------------

He didn't bloody  _care_ how long it had been going on, he just cared that it  _was_. 

Jumping out of the shower without even turning it off, he grabbed a towel and wrapped it around himself at the same time that he wrenched open the bathroom door. 

"Jemma!" he called, dashing into the living room and looking around for her. "Jemma?" he skidded across the floor on wet feet. 

"In here," came a muffled reply from the kitchen. 

He jogged in, almost losing both his balance and his towel on the linoleum. "Jemma," he panted, a huge smile on his face. 

"Are you done in the bathroom?" she asked with her back to him as she poured out a cup of coffee.

"Jemma," he said again, walking slowly now with purpose. 

"We'll work out a rota for tomorrow," she was saying, stirring the cup much more than necessary. 

"Jemma?" he said, reaching out to touch her shoulder. 

"So that doesn't happen again," she continued, not looking up when he turned her around. 

"Jemma," he said in a definitive tone, and this time she finally looked at him. 

"Yes?" she asked, and she looked so worried. 

He took a deep breath. "It wasn't weird for me, either."


	14. Interact

Jemma's breath caught in her throat as Fitz looked at her  _like that_ again. It was even more potent when he was doing it while standing right in front of her, staring into her eyes, and panting slightly. She blinked as her own heart rate accelerated. He was soaking wet from the shower, and the only reason he wasn't naked in her kitchen was that he had a death grip on his towel. 

"Do-" her voice cracked, and she had to swallow before she could speak. Her heart was in her throat, and his eyes were sending shivers right to her core. "Do you mean...?" she left it hanging, hoping that he'd fill in the blanks for her. 

He was nodding before she'd even managed that much of her question. "I do. I  _definitely_ do."

Her heart was now exploding in a miniature fireworks display somewhere around her right ear, and she couldn't keep the wide smile from spreading across her face. "Really?" she asked, stepping even closer to him. So close that her robe brushed his wet, naked skin. 

"Mmhmm," he nodded again, slower this time, and he was still looking at her in a way that felt like he was already inside her. His free hand came up and gripped her waist, and her hands smoothed tentatively over his chest. 

"So..." she whispered, her head tilting back as her eyelids fluttered. Her eyes kept shifting from his eyes to his lips and back, and the tension inside her was coiled so tight she could barely catch her breath. 

"So..." he whispered back, leaning down until they were a hair's breadth apart. 

"I guess..." she whispered, her lips ghosting against his and her hands sliding up over his shoulders and into his wet curls. 

"We could..." he whispered back, nodding with his lips pressing just a little bit back against hers. 

"Maybe..." her eyes closed and their lips met in earnest. 

\----------------------------

Fitz's heart hammered in his chest as Jemma pressed herself tight against him. Her lips were incredibly soft and her tongue was like magic, and the little gasping mewling noises she was making against his lips were making it difficult to remember to hold onto his towel. 

Aw, fuck it. She'd seen it already. 

Releasing his towel and letting it pool at his feet on the floor, he gripped her waist with both hands and pulled her even tighter against him, deepening their kiss. 

She moaned into his mouth and tugged at his hair and damnit if he didn't want even  _more._

Leaning into her, he pushed her back against the counter and then lifted her up onto it. Then he stepped between her legs and they wrapped around his waist and there was no question about whether or not this was the best day of his life. 

"Fitz," she panted, breaking their kiss to nip at his jaw. 

"Oh god, Jemma," he moaned, tilting his head for her and moving his hands down to squeeze her ass. 

"I can't believe-"

"Finally-"

"-ted  _so long_ -"

"-you  _so much_ I-"

And then they were kissing again and his cock that had wilted somewhat in the confusion of earlier had come back full strength. 

\----------------------------

Jemma gasped when she felt Fitz's hardness bumping against her inner thigh. Her stomach somersaulted with anticipation and her legs tightened, drawing him in nearer. God, this was the best Monday morning she'd ever had in her  _life_. 

"Mmmm," she moaned, gasping as Fitz moved from her lips to kiss his way down her neck. Her robe was gaping quite a bit now, and she could probably help that along quite nicely by undoing her belt. 

She had the loop of her belt in her hand when she was jarred out of her haze of lust by an incessant beeping noise. 

"What the-?"

"S'nothing," Fitz reassured her, nibbling at her throat. "S'just my alarm."

She nodded and pulled his face up for another kiss, opening her mouth to let his tongue inside once more. 

Alarm.

Her hands slid down his back to grab his ass and pull him closer.

_Alarm._

She slid to the edge of the counter, her robe parting over her spread open legs. 

"Alarm?" she asked, breaking their kiss and pressing one hand against his chest to keep them apart.

Fitz nodded impatiently, trying to push his way closer again. " _Yes,"_ he said with a frustrated whine to his voice. "My alarm. To get up? For  _work?"_

As he said it, his face dropped with the realization. 

"Shit," they said simultaneously. 

"Don't suppose we could...?" he asked, eyebrows raised and a hopeful expression on his face. 

"Call in sick?" Jemma finished for him, looking just as hopeful. 

\----------------------------

Fitz's smile turned from hopeful to sultry as he moved back in to kiss her again. 

But before his lips met hers, he pulled back and cursed. "God  _damnit_ ," he buried his face in her half-naked shoulder and tried not to look at the beautiful breasts just starting to peak out of her robe. 

"What?" Jemma asked, and her flushed face and rosy lips were calling to him to pretend he hadn't remembered. 

"The meeting with-"

"-With Director Fury!" Jemma groaned, covering her eyes with one hand. 

"I'm sure I could reschedule!" Fitz suggested, eyes wide and earnest. 

"You can't reschedule with the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. - not if you want to keep your job!"

"But-"

"Look," Jemma said gently, pushing him away from her and straightening her robe. "We'll just... put a pin in this, for now."

"Put a pin...?" he trailed off, face falling as she got more covered up. 

"And tonight," she hopped off of the counter and bent over to pick up his towel, using a hand on his hip to steady herself. "Well  _tonight,_ " she rose back up with an aching slowness that brought her face oh so close to his cock. "We won't be interrupted."

Fitz swallowed hard and nodded. 

He might not want to stop right now, but he had first hand knowledge of what Jemma Simmons could do when given the time to prepare.

She  _excelled_ at preparation.


	15. Lending a Hand

"Now," Jemma continued as she handed him his towel, "Is your sunburn still bothering you?"

Fitz blinked at the polite smile on her face. You'd think they hadn't been about to... to... Well, about to use her kitchen counter for something other than making coffee, that was for sure!

"Yes?" he answered weakly, holding the towel in front of himself. It wasn't painful so much as itchy, but that was still bothersome. Right?

"Alright, well finish up in the shower and then I'll put some more aloe on you before you get dressed."

He stood there a bit gobsmacked as she walked past him and out of the kitchen. But they were... they  _had been_... Weren't they...? 

 _Fuck_ Mondays.

Wrapping the towel around his waist and trying to ignore the tent he was sporting, Fitz padded back into the bathroom and turned off the shower that he'd left on in his haste earlier. He thought briefly about asking if maybe Jemma might want someone to wash her back, but...

Actually...

"I'm all done," he grinned as he poked his head in her bedroom doorway. "But if you'd like, I'd be more than happy to wash your back for you." He waggled his eyebrows and winked. "Or your front."

Jemma smiled back but shook her head. "I think we've already established how dangerous that idea would be," she laughed, pointing at his head. "Now come and here and lie down so I can do your back."

Fitz raised his eyebrows and opened his mouth a bit awkwardly. "Um," he began, searching for words. How exactly would you say 'my boner is going to get in the way'  _delicately?_

"What?" Jemma asked, opening the bottle of aloe gel. She was looking at him curiously, as if she had no idea that he was hard and ready and wanting her so bad.

He blew out a breath and shrugged as he moved over to her bed. "Nevermind." Jemma hadn't been late  _once_ in all the years he'd known her, he wasn't about to ruin that streak now just because he was horny. She'd promised him  _tonight_ and that would have to be soon enough. "Not important," he assured her with a smile.

He carefully lay down, attempting to arrange himself for the least amount of discomfort. The towel wasn't really helping matters. 

"Can I...?" he asked, pointing to it.

"Of course," Jemma nodded, squeezing some gel onto her hands and rubbing them together. 

He raised his hips and untucked the towel, dropping it beside her bed. Ridiculously, he found himself blushing. Was it because he was naked and she wasn't? Because she was getting an unobstructed view of his ass? Because being naked in bed with her wasn't really helping him with the 'arranging' issue? Whatever the reason, he wasn't about to complain. 

"All set?" she asked as she knelt beside him.

"Uh huh," he said, his voice tight. Whatever might happen next, he just had to hold out long enough that he didn't come all over her duvet. They didn't have time to do laundry before work. 

And then she was straddling him, sitting on his ass like she'd done the day before. But today he was naked and she was just wearing a robe and suddenly he knew just how wet she was. 

"Is that alright?" she asked, wiggling her hips to settle herself further. Her voice was a bit breathy. 

"Fuck yeah," he moaned into her pillow. God, he just wanted to turn over and feel that hot wetness on his cock instead of his ass.

Her hands spread out on his lower back, soothing his hips and spine with the cool gel. They tickled slightly as they pressed into his sides, and his laughter caused his hips to push into her bed. He groaned and clenched his teeth, reminding himself again to wait til she was in the shower and he could use his hand. 

Then her hands were moving smoothly upwards, over his ribs to his shoulder blades, and Jemma was rocking her hips forward to reach. She hadn't had to do that last time, but from her movements it seemed intensely necessary today.  Her legs squeezed his hips as she leaned over to reach his shoulders, and all he could think about was what she might look like right now. Legs spread over his hips. Back arched as she pressed into him. Face flushed and lips parting as she ground herself against him.

He could hear her breath coming in pants as she leaned so far forward that her robe tickled his back. 

She massaged her hands into his shoulders one last time and then said, "That side's done." He moaned softly, wondering if he could convince her to keep going. Just for a little while longer.

Then, she rose up on her knees without getting off of him. "Did you want me to do your front?"

God, it was like she could read his mind.

Suddenly Mondays weren't seeming so bad after all. 

He pushed himself up slightly on his elbows, lifting his hips higher to free himself from the tangle of her bedspread. They were really doing this, weren't they? He was going to turn over, and she was going to see his hard-on, and she was going to sit on his lap and spread lotion all over _him_ while he tried not to blow his load all over _her_.

He closed his eyes and sent out a silent prayer for self-control, and then he turned over and there was Jemma, kneeling over him in that ridiculously fluffy robe with an expression on her face like she was desperately seeking an answer to a question and he was it. 

"How's this?" he asked nervously as he settled onto his back, his hard cock sticking up between them. He held his breath waiting for her answer, not quite able to look at her directly.

"That will do nicely," she said efficiently, looking at his erection. Then she blushed and met his eyes with a smile. "You're sure you don't mind?" she asked mildly. 

"Not at all!" he reassured her in a rush. If he could think of whatever the opposite of 'mind' was, he'd say that, but his brain wasn't quite working at that level just now.

"It's not..." she paused as she lowered herself down until she was sitting  _almost_ where he wanted her to be. "Weird?" she asked with an arch smile. _  
_

He caught his breath and squeezed his stomach muscles, his cock twitching between them. "Not even a little bit," he confirmed, his voice still strained, as he reached behind her to grab her ass and pull her more tightly against his cock. Her robe hid her from his view, but he could feel the wet lips of her pussy against his shaft. He wasn't the only one who was incredibly turned on. 

Jemma gasped, eyes widening, and then rolled her hips. They both moaned at the feeling, even as she pretended nothing unusual was happening.

"As long as you're comfortable," she panted, squeezing more gel onto her hands and then leaning forward to reach his shoulders. They both shuddered as her pussy slid up the side of his cock almost to the tip. Their eyes met and she bit her lip as he licked his. 

His hands moved from her ass to her hips, and he pulled her up that last little bit to let the tip of his cock nudge against her clit. And then he pushed her back down, dragging her along his shaft to the base again. 

He continued pulling her up and down along his cock as her hands painted their way over his shoulders, chest, and stomach. Each time, he paused at the top to bump her clit with his tip before slipping out from between her lips and guiding her down again. Each time, he moved her a bit faster. Each time, her robe loosened a bit more.

When her hands slid below his belly button, he groaned and pushed his own hips up, lifting her with them. Her head tossed back as she moaned, and her robe slipped off her shoulders to pool at her elbows. Her naked breasts were finally revealed, and they bounced with each thrust and roll, and he couldn't take his eyes off them.

Jemma brought her head back up and met his eyes, her slow smile turning into a smirk as she bit her lip and shrugged her robe off entirely. She dropped it over the side of the bed to join his towel and then she was naked on top of him, riding his hips if not his cock. He stared up at her in wonder, not quite believing they were doing this. Not quite believing they hadn't been doing this forever.

Then her hands finished their journey down his chest and she gripped his cock with her slippery fingers. 

She pumped him fast and hard as she ground her clit against the side of his shaft, her gasps coming faster and faster and her moans getting louder and louder. His own breath was roaring in his ears and he tried desperately to keep his eyes open, not wanting to miss a moment of what was happening.

And then her eyes closed and her whole body went still before shuddering. 

"Fitz," she gasped as she half-collapsed on top of him, and then he was filled with a sensation that was half hot lava and half electricity and he was coming too, all over her stomach and chest. 

"Jemma," he panted as she stroked him one last time and squeezed out the last of it. 

They stared at each other as they caught their breath, and then the beeping of his alarm finally penetrated their consciousness. 

"Sorry about-" Fitz started, pointing at the mess he'd made on them both. At least they wouldn't have to do laundry?

Jemma laughed and leaned down to kiss him. "No harm done," she said, getting off of him on shaky legs. "But I  _will_ be using the shower now, if it's all the same?"

He chuckled as he struggled to a seated position, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. "I'm still willing to wash your back, y'know," he offered. 

"Maybe tonight," Jemma grinned back with a twinkle in her eye. 


	16. To Do List

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a note: I re-read chapter 15 today and it felt rushed, so I edited it to add an extra 500 words. It doesn't change the story at all, but I think it reads better this way :)

"-uctors to support the wing structure," Fitz was saying as he pulled open the door to the lab building and let her walk in ahead of him.

"Have you got that on your electronic version of the schematic because I didn't see it on your printouts?" Jemma smiled at security as they swiped their badges and lined up for the lift. She waved at Linda who was arriving just behind them.

"Yeah," Fitz nodded. "I couldn't sleep last night, so I poked around at them a bit."

"You should have said," she admonished him gently, stroking her hand down his forearm. "I could have helped."

"Morning you two," Linda said with a question on her face.

"Morning," they chimed in unison.

"You two don't usually arrive together, do you?" she asked as they piled into the elevator together.

Fitz blushed and looked over at her, brushing her fingers with his own. "I'm staying over at hers just now," he said, turning to stare at the numbers above the lift doors. "My aircon's busted, so my place is unlivable."

Linda laughed. "And here I thought you two had finally gotten together," she joked.

Jemma exchanged a look with Fitz. She raised her eyebrows and shrugged slightly. He nodded almost imperceptibly back. They both smiled shyly.

"We did," they said together, and their smiles blossomed.

" _What_?" Linda gasped.

"I'll tell you later," Jemma promised as the doors opened at their floor and they exited.

Linda shoved her hand out to keep the doors from closing and called after them. "You'll tell me _now!_ "

\----------------------

"Wanna get lunch?" Fitz asked, looking up from his keyboard.

"Hmm?" Jemma looked up from her phone where she was making a To Do list of things she wanted to finish up. There wasn't nearly as much time as she would have liked.

"Did you want to get lunch?" he asked again, and he was using that impatient tone that told her he was already hungry and planning to eat immediately if not sooner.

"You go ahead," she told him, turning back to her phone. "I have some errands I need to run during my break, anyway."

"You sure?" he asked, already standing up and with the strap of his messenger bag halfway over his head.

"Go!" she laughed. "I don't want to deal with you hungry."

He jogged over to her workstation and paused next to her, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot. God, he was adorable.

"Yes?" she asked, looking at him expectantly.

"It's just..." he shifted again and rubbed a hand over the back of his neck.

"Just what?" she asked, wondering what had him so nervous.

"Can I..." he looked around the lab, but the handful of people there were all engaged in their own tasks and conversations. "Y'know..." he pressed his hands to his hips and looked down at his feet before pinning her with another of those looks that made her weak in the knees. "...Kiss you?" he asked, his eyebrows raised.

Jemma had been smiling almost constantly all day, but that made her smile even more. "Of _course_ ," she said, standing up and grabbing the front of his plaid shirt to pull him closer to her.

He looked around one more time and then bent down and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips. Lifting his head again, he beamed. "Brilliant," he breathed.

"Getting there," she laughed. Then she grabbed his tie and pulled him down for a kiss with a bit more feeling to it. She closed her eyes and opened her lips and tilted her head to the side. And then she had to remind herself they were in the middle of the lab _at work_. Releasing him, she felt herself blush as she licked her lips and squeezed them together. " _That_ was brilliant," she said, the look on her face daring him to disagree.

"No argument here," Fitz breathed. Then he shifted his bag in front of himself and took a step back from her. "So, no lunch then?" he asked in a louder than necessary voice.

She chuckled and shook her head. Secret agent, he wasn't. "No lunch," she confirmed.

\----------------------

Jemma took her phone out as she waited in line at Bed, Bath and Beyond. She might as well use her wait time efficiently.

She looked down her list of things to do and found one that she could accomplish via text.

Her phone started ringing in her hand, so she answered it.

"Now?" Fitz said incredulously through her speaker. "You want to do _this_? _Now?_ "

"I just thought we should talk about it before tonight, is all," she shrugged, shuffling up the line and putting her items on the conveyor belt.

"Via _text message_?" he asked, his voice rising in that way it did when he was upset. Or turned on, she remembered with a smile.

"I have a bag," she said to the cashier, covering her phone's mouthpiece in one hand.

"What?" Fitz asked, confusion apparent in his tone.

"Sorry, I was talking to the cashier," she apologized.

"You're asking me for my sexual history while you're _in line at the shops?_ " he asked, and his voice was rising again.

"That why I sent a text instead," she said matter-of-factly. "I thought you'd appreciate my discretion."

She could actually _hear_ his palm smacking his forehead through the phone.

\----------------------

Jemma took both items into the changing room with her, looking at each in turn. She just couldn't decide. She shrugged out of her blouse and took her phone out of her bag once more. She should probably just ask the person she was buying it for, shouldn't she?

She reached into the cups to settle her breasts just so and then smiled as she took a picture in the mirror.

Her phone started ringing in her hand, so she answered it.

"Jemma!" Fitz whispered harshly. His voice was strangely echo-y.

"Where are you?" she asked curiously. That's certainly not how the lab sounded.

"I'm in the toilets," he said shortly. "Where are _you_?"

"Victoria's Secret," she said. Considering the picture she'd just sent, she really would have expected him to be able to guess as much.

"Victori-" Fitz breathed out. Apparently, this was some kind of revelation.

"So, red or black?" she asked again.

"Red or..." he trailed off weakly.

"Did you want to see the black one too?"

\----------------------

Jemma finished her donair and dropped her napkin in a trash can as she jogged back to the lab. She'd managed as much as she could over her lunch break, but she had a few more items on her list to check off.

"Back," she smiled at Fitz and kissed him on the cheek as she stashed her bags under her lab bench.

He looked at her a bit apprehensively and tried to peek at her purchases subtly. "So... what did you get?" he asked nonchalantly.

"You'll see soon enough," she grinned, shrugging into her lab coat.

He moved up behind her and put his hands on her hips. Pressing himself into her backside, he whispered in her ear. "The red one?" he asked, and she shivered at the feeling of his breath. "Or the black one?"

She bit her lip to contain her grin and turned to face him. She wanted to see his face. "Both," she said simply.

Worth it.

\----------------------

"I'm off," Fitz said as he grabbed his laptop and schematics.

"Good meeting!" she said cheerfully, squeezing his hand for luck.

He nodded nervously and gulped.

He looked so miserable, she just had to take his mind off of it, if only for a moment.

"Do you already have condoms, or should we buy some on the way home?" she asked brightly.

He blinked at her and his jaw moved up and down twice without producing any sound.

"Or I could just step out to the pharmacy on the corner while you're in your meeting. What size do you need?"

\----------------------

Jemma sighed and looked at her watch. It was past five o'clock, but Fitz was still in his meeting with Director Fury and agents Cicero and Brunelli. They'd pulled in Khaja at one point for a second engineering opinion, and that had been over an hour ago.

She sent Fitz a quick text to let him know that she was heading home without him and she'd see him there.

She had things that needed doing.


	17. Chemistry

Fitz's day had been a bit of a rollercoaster, to say the least. The shock and horror of Jemma walking in on him in the shower had been replaced by the absolutely fucking  _fantastic_ feeling of making out with her. But then they'd stopped because of his alarm. And started up again because Jemma was fucking  _brilliant,_ and god  _damn_ if he wasn't going to spank it to _that_ memory every day for the rest of his godforsaken  _life_. 

But then they'd had to rush to get to work, and an apple and a travel mug of coffee was not the kind of breakfast he was used to. 

And he'd tried to be smooth and ask Jemma out for lunch, but she didn't know he was asking her  _out_ for lunch, but then she'd let him kiss her, and then she'd kissed  _him_ and wow was that ever a good idea. 

Those texts, though. How was a man supposed to concentrate on his work when she was asking him about his sex life and sending him those pictures. _  
_

God, those pictures.

They were great fucking pictures, those pictures. _Great. Fucking. Pictures_. 

Except they were making it a bit difficult for him to concentrate just now. He kept fiddling with his phone in his pocket, wanting to take it out and look at them again. 

"Agent  _Fitz_ ," Director Fury said, and the shortness in his tone indicated that this wasn't the first time he'd been addressed. 

"Y-yes sir? Sorry, sir, I was just..." thinking about Jemma in lingerie. 

"I don't  _care_ ," Fury interrupted him before he was able to get his thoughts together. "I just need to know how realistic this timeline is."

"The timeline?" Fitz sat up straighter in his chair and pulled his tablet closer to him to look at the Gantt chart Maria Hill had drafted. His brow furrowed as he started mentally evaluating the incredibly large task of building a custom-designed airplane for SHIELD. "I think," he hesitated, gulping slightly and tugging a hand through his hair. "I think this might be a bit..." he glanced over at Agent Hill and looked away quickly when she arched an eyebrow at him. "Optimistic?" he tried. 

"Optimistic  _how_?" Fury asked, waving another agent over. "Get Abdul-Salam in here, will you?" he barked. "I need a second opinion."

Fitz glanced at the time display at the top of his tablet. It was already four o'clock. If they were bringing in more people, this meeting wasn't ending any time soon. 

He sighed as the roller coaster of his day started to plummet. 

And things had been looking up, too.

\-----------------------------

Jemma scrolled through her to do list, looking for unchecked items. She'd managed to get nearly everything done. With a sigh and a happy smile, she wiped a hand across her sweaty brow and sat down on her sofa with some papers and a highlighter. 

She was definitely feeling like a high achiever. 

\-----------------------------

"Jemma?" Fitz called as he unlocked her door and entered her apartment. "You get my text?"

He toed off his shoes and set his bag down just inside the door. His head tilted as he heard the tell-tale sounds of the shower running, and he grinned. 

Wandering into the kitchen for a drink, he was stopped by a paper pinned to the fridge. It looked like a photocopy of a two-page spread from a book, and it was highlighted. He frowned as he took it out from under the magnet, but his eyebrows soon rose as he read the indicated section. 

In seconds, he was stripping off his tie and unbuttoning his shirt while practically running towards Jemma's bathroom. 

\-----------------------------

Jemma grinned and blushed as she left the excerpt from  _Chemistry_ where she knew Fitz would find it. He'd texted her saying he'd be home in 10 minutes, and that gave her enough time to turn down the sheets and get into the shower. 

Her heart leapt into her throat as she heard the bathroom door open and she took a deep breath to steady her nerves. She'd never tried anything like this before, but she'd been thinking about it so much she just  _had_ to do it. 

And then the curtain behind her was moving aside and she wasn't alone in the shower anymore. 

"You've been busy," Fitz commented, and she smiled proudly. 

She'd bought decals for the tub floor to save them from slipping and had added grab bars to the tile walls. It was actually good that Fitz's meeting had run late because it gave her time to install them.

She might want to have sex in the shower, but that didn't mean she wanted to be one of the statistically significant people who were injured in shower falls every year. 

"I ran a few errands," she said mildly, giving him an arch look back over her shoulder. 

"Uh uh," he tutted. "That's not how the chapter goes," he grinned. 

She grinned back and faced front again, leaning her head back so the spray rinsed over her face. "Is this okay?" she asked, wanting to make sure. "Acting out the chapter, I mean?"

"Shh," Fitz whispered, stepping up behind her and taking her hips in his hands. Her eyes fluttered closed as the butterflies in her stomach took wing. She reached up behind her head to tangle her fingers in his hair and bring his lips down to her neck. 

\-----------------------------

Fitz trailed his fingers slowly and lightly up Jemma's ribcage. He was already hard, and he pressed his cock against the soft pillows of her ass. God, she felt good. 

"Oh god, please," Jemma whispered as his fingers teased the sides of her breasts. He kissed her neck and looked over her shoulder and marveled at how hard her nipples were already. They stood out deliciously from her breasts, and he just wanted to lick them. 

Instead, he moved his hands over her breasts, cupping them and squeezing them lightly before pulling on those hard little peaks and hearing her gasp and moan. His cock twitched against her and he tweaked them again, loving the sounds she made. 

"God you're sexy, Jemma," he whispered in her ear. 

His left hand continued to play with her breasts as his right trailed back down her stomach again. They both sighed when his fingers combed through the hair between her legs, and her sigh turned into a gasp and then a moan when they parted her lips to slide through her wetness. 

"Oh fuck yes, Fitz," she whispered, tugging harder on his hair and twisting slightly for a kiss. 

His tongue pierced her lips at the same time his finger pushed inside her. She was so fucking wet, so ready, as she pushed her hips against his palm and rode his finger. 

"You feel so fucking  _good_ ," he groaned into her mouth as he added a second finger and started stroking faster, his left hand still teasing her nipples. 

"Oh god, you too!" she moaned back, pressing harder and harder against his hand. 

"I want you so much," he panted, grinding against her. 

And then she let go of his hair and bent over in front of him. 

"I want you, too," she gasped. "Now!"

"Fuck,  _yes_ ," he swore. 

He took his fingers out of her pussy and moved them up to tease her clit for a moment before gripping his cock and aiming it at her entrance. He parted her lips with the head of his cock and slid it back and forth along her slit, making them both moan. 

"Put it in me, Fitz," Jemma begged. "I need you in me."

He closed his eyes and pushed. 

\-----------------------------

Jemma's eyes opened wide along with her mouth as she felt Fitz slide in and in and  _into_ her. He went so slowly, it was like he was a mile long and every single inch was pure pleasure. That first thrust was always her favourite, and the anticipation leading up to this one made it absolutely perfect. When his hips touched hers again, she finally took a breath. 

"Oh god you-"

"-so  _good_ around my-"

"-side me, I just-"

"-ver want to stop-"

"-ck me, Fitz!"

"-ing you, Jemma!"

And then she was glad for the bar to hold onto and the decals on the floor. 

He pulled out until just the tip of his cock was still inside her, and then pushed back in. One hand gripped her hip and the other one pushed her further over in her bent position, and then he pulled out again before pushing back harder and faster. 

She pressed one hand flat on the tile wall in front of her and the other one gripped the bar she'd installed to the side, and then she lifted her leg onto the side of the tub and they both moaned at how that opened her up to him. 

He pulled out and pushed in again, harder and faster and now even  _deeper_ , and she pushed her ass back to meet his thrusts and her breasts bounced with each rapid movement. 

The hand on her hip moved to the inside of her thigh and then to the top of her mound. He pressed one finger between her lips, seeking and finding her clit and rubbing it with each stroke of his cock.

Faster.

Harder.

Deeper.

 _More_.

He was cursing out strings of obscenities and her moans had turned to wails. He pulled out and pushed in again. Again.  _Again. **Again.**_

And then he pulled her hard against him as he pushed into her one last time, and he groaned as he emptied himself inside her. 

\-----------------------------

He panted against her back, his hand dropping from between her legs and his own legs shaky and barely supporting him. 

He'd wanted her to come with him, but he hadn't been able to hold out any longer. She was just so fucking  _sexy_ , he'd lost any semblance of control.  _  
_

He watched as she brought her foot from the side of the tub back down to the floor, and he used the grab bar to pull himself up off her back so that she could stand back up. 

"I'm sorry you didn't-" he started, but she turned around and kissed him, cupping his face in both of her hands and looking at him like he was the most brilliant man she'd ever met. 

"Don't even  _think_ of apologizing, Leopold Fitz," she warned him with a smile. "We're not even  _close_ to being done yet."


	18. Chemistry Pt. 2

Fitz got the most wicked look on his face, and she felt another tingle rush through her. She kissed him again as the shower rained down on them, and her hands tangled in his hair. His hands slid down her back to grip her ass and squeeze before pulling her against him again. She panted out a ragged breath, still on the edge of orgasm, and moved her hands to his shoulders. She couldn't get over how _enthusiastic_ he was.

It was utterly _fantastic._

"The other half of the chapter?" he asked, staring into her eyes, and it was the same look he'd been giving her over lab tables and take away dinners for years. The intensity of it pulled at her stomach, and her pussy tightened reflexively, remembering the feel of his cock.

"It's my favourite part," she stared back, putting every lust-filled thought she'd ever had about him into the look.

"Holy _fuck_ , Jemma," he whispered, and then he bent down to kiss her neck and she moaned.

Her eyes fluttered closed again as his hands roamed all over her wet body, palming her breasts and squeezing her thighs, and she reveled in it for a moment before her need took over. Opening them once more, she bit her lower lip and pressed down on his shoulders.

She knew what she wanted, and she wanted to come.

\-----------------------

When Jemma looked at him like that, like he was Nikola Tesla and Captain America and Ryan Gosling all rolled into one, it almost knocked the wind out of him.

She'd told him, during their hurried morning conversation that occurred in fits and starts as they got ready for work and half-walked, half-ran to the lab, that she'd had a crush on him for a while. That she'd had several crushes on him over the years, actually, and had given it up as a lost cause because she'd thought he didn't even know she was a girl.

He pinched a nipple and cradled a hip and groaned into the soft, wet skin of her neck and couldn't believe she'd _ever_ not known exactly how he felt about her and the fact that she was most _definitely_ a girl.

He was going to have to work on that.

Jemma's hands pressed down on his shoulders, and he grinned as he allowed himself to be pushed down. She wasn't the only one who loved this part of the book. He must have read this scene a half-dozen times, at least. He only hoped he could make it half as good for her as it was for the heroine, Jenna.

Huh. Jenna and Leonard. That was a bit of a coincidence, wasn't it?

All thoughts of the book left his mind, however, once he'd been pushed down to stand on his knees with his face pressed into her breasts. He closed his eyes against the rainfall of the shower and pressed his cheek into her softness as his hands moved up from her hips past her ribs. He paused for a moment, just barely touching where they both wanted him to be, and then he opened his eyes again to drink in the sight.

Those tits. Fucking _hell_ those tits. Pale skin and a dusting of freckles and toffee-coloured nipples all hard and begging to be sucked.

He briefly wondered if she'd let him take pictures of her like this, wet and naked and so incredibly sexy.

He'd never get any work done again.

He cupped her breasts, squeezing them slightly and rubbing her nipples with his thumbs, and he enjoyed the way it made her shiver and moan and roll her hips, pressing her thighs together.

Those thighs that he was going to be between again very soon, but not with his cock.

He licked his lips in anticipation and then leaned forward and took one nipple in his mouth as he pinched and pulled the other one. Jemma's hands jumped from his shoulders to tangle her fingers in his hair, and suddenly he was pressed tight against her.

"Oh _yes_ ," she sighed, shuddering again in his arms. "Just like that."

Fitz enjoyed the feeling of her combing through his wet curls as he sucked on first one nipple and then the other.

First, he gently kissed the tip, teasing it with his lips. Then, he kissed the rest of her breast, sucking gently on her skin and just barely grazing it with his teeth. Moving back to her nipple, he pressed his tongue against it and flicked, then flicked again before finally opening his mouth and sucking it inside.

Her gasps and moans urged him on, and he felt like he'd be happy for _years_ just making love to Jemma's beautiful breasts. Her perfect boobs. Her gorgeous tits.

But her moans were coming faster and her hands were pushing him once more, and he was kissing his way down her stomach to where they both wanted him to be.

\-----------------------

Jemma was starting to wonder if it might be possible for her to come just from having Fitz play with her breasts. He was amazingly good at it - better than her other boyfriends had been - and he seemed content to spend as much time there as she'd allow.

Note to self: test your hypothesis.

But she'd been riding the edge of orgasm since Fitz had started rubbing her clit while pounding his cock into her, and she needed that release like she needed air.

Alright, that was hyperbole.

But the way she was feeling, it wasn't  _that_ much of an exaggeration.

So she pushed down on his head, removing her breast from the exquisite pleasure of his mouth and hoping he could work similar magic on her clit.

Oh god, if he did _that_ to her clit...

Her hips bucked at the thought, and she let out an involuntary gasp as Fitz dipped his tongue into her belly button before continuing his journey downwards.

She reached out with one hand to firmly grip the grab bar as he gently parted her thighs and lifted her foot to the edge of the tub again. She bit down hard on her lip and clutched his hair in her hand as she tensed her stomach muscles.

This was actually a bit scary to think about.

But then Fitz kissed her lips, and she wasn't thinking anymore.

\-----------------------

Fitz grinned as he felt Jemma's fingers tighten in his hair. She tensed under his hands, and he knew what she must be worried about.

Leaning down the last inch or two, he moved forward and kissed the lips of her pussy, wet from the shower and damp with his cum and hers. He nudged his tongue between them and ran it along her slit, tasting them all salty on his tongue. They both moaned as his tongue made another pass.

God, he wanted _more_ , and hot as it was to do this in the shower, the water was washing it all away.

He pulled her hips closer to him, but felt her pull back, afraid.

"I've got you, Jemma," he reassured her, looking up at her from his position between her legs. "You hold onto the wall, and I'll hold onto you."

Reaching behind her, he grabbed her ass firmly and buried his tongue between her lips again.

"Ohhhh!" Jemma moaned, her breath coming in several short pants.

"Now just reach down here," he said, letting her go long enough to take her hand from his head and pull it down to her pussy. "And open yourself up for me," he instructed.

Using her fingers, Jemma spread the lips of her pussy, and now he could see the lovely wet pinkness that had been hidden before. "There's a good girl," he praised before grasping her ass tight again and sliding his tongue where his cock had been before.

" _Fitz!"_ Jemma gasped, and her hand flew to the top of his head again.

He fucked his tongue in an out of her a few more times before licking his way up her slit. He stopped before reaching her clit.

"Don't stop," she begged softly, her hips pushing forward trying to find his tongue again. " _Please_ , I'm so close!"

He brought her hand down to her pussy again. "I won't stop, if you'll just follow my bloody instructions for once," he smiled up at her.

She gulped and nodded and parted her lips again. "As long as you follow mine," she bartered.

"Fuck _yes_ ," he agreed immediately. "Tell me what you want me to do."

"Lick my clit," she told him, rubbing it with her finger. "Suck it like you sucked on my nipples."

He watched her finger swirl around once, twice, and then dip inside herself and god _damn_ was he going to make sure he saw that again and soon. But then he nudged her out of the way with his nose, and she was spreading her lips, and he leaned forward again to do like she'd asked.

\-----------------------

 Jemma clutched hard at the grab bar and let out a shout as Fitz leaned forward and kissed her clit. Those perfect pink lips of his parted and his tongue came out and it felt like magic as it slowly licked along her nub.

Her stomach and thighs clenched and she couldn't stop shuddering as licked her clit again and again before circling it with his tongue and then sucking it into his mouth.

Her back arched and her head pressed back against the tile wall and his hands felt so _good_ grabbing onto her ass and his tongue, his _tongue_ , oh my god his _f_ _ucking_ tongue...

It wiggled and pressed against her clit as his fingers dug into her ass, and it was Fitz, wonderful Fitz, brilliant Fitz, Leopold Fitz, and she screamed as she let go of the bar to grab onto his hair.

\-----------------------

Fitz felt the sudden weight of her drop on his hands and held on even tighter to her ass, pushing her against the shower wall to better distribute the load.

She was screaming something fierce and pulling hard on his hair, and he sucked and licked with the same urgency as she rode out the wave of her orgasm.

Finally, she quieted down to a harsh panting for breath and she pushed at his head to get him to stop. He loosened his grip and helped her down to the floor of the tub.

"Are you okay?" he asked, worried he might have hurt her with his grip or his push against the wall.

She smiled weakly back at him and pulled him in for a gentle kiss. "I'll let you know, once my bones stop being jelly," she joked.

He grinned and kissed her back. "Can I turn off the shower?" he asked. "At this rate, we're going to be prunes."


	19. Aftermath

Jemma smiled into her reflection as she dried her hair.

Not only had she had a wonderful orgasm after some, frankly, quite inventive sex, but she'd done it all with Fitz. Afterwards, when they'd lain in the tub all wrapped up in each other, he'd revealed his own crushes on her. Honestly, they'd been ridiculous idiots not to see what was going on, but just as she'd thought he didn't see her as a girl, he'd thought that she didn't think of him as a boy.

She was the first to admit that she had a history of dating a certain "type" of guy, but she was also adamant that she'd dropped hint after hint at Fitz and he'd never once picked one up. After all, she'd just spent an entire _day_ trying her best to seduce him and it took her literally walking up to him naked to get him to see it.

She shook her head and laughed ruefully.

It was actually amazing that none of their friends had ever just grabbed their heads and pushed their faces together.

 ----------------------

Fitz rubbed two fingers over his lips as he tapped his pen on the dining room table. This article really was very good. It was such a shame Jemma had to cut it down even further. He scribbled a note in the margin, underlining the section it referenced, and glanced at the timer on his cell phone. Dinner would be ready soon.

Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped around his chest from behind, and he jumped slightly as Jemma kissed his cheek.

"Sorry!" she apologized, wincing a bit as she sat down in the chair next to him.

"Nono!" he assured her quickly. "It's fine! Great! Brilliant, really! I just..." he floundered slightly, and looked at her a bit helplessly. "Need to get used to it?" he asked her. It wasn't that they hadn't touched each other before, when they were just friends, it was just that... well, this was definitely _new._

She smiled at him shyly. "Me too, actually," she admitted. "I was standing back there for almost a full minute trying to decide whether I should do that or not."

He couldn't believe she was blushing about a _hug_ when they'd just been doing so much more than that, but then again, he was blushing over it too. "I'm glad that you did," he grinned. He couldn't _stop_ grinning, actually. He'd tried. It never seemed to work for more than 5 seconds at a time, and then he'd remember and there would be that no doubt stupid grin all over his face again.

She leaned forward and kissed him briefly and his grin widened even further. He didn't even care that he looked like a git.

\----------------------

Curling up on the sofa to watch telly with Fitz used to be a sort of wonderful torture. She'd be able to press herself up against him, rest her head on his shoulder or lap, watch him out of the corner of her eye, and maybe even pretend they were dating... just for a little while.

But _now_ , now it was a whole different kind of wonderful and a brand new type of torture.

They'd started out in their usual movie-watching positions, sitting side by side on her sofa. But then she'd taken his arm off the back of the couch and wrapped it around her shoulders before wrapping both her arms around his waist. Her satisfied smile had been met by a happily bemused one on his face. And that had been perfect.

At first.

But eventually, Fitz yawned and slouched down in his seat with his feet on her coffee table, and his arm moved from her shoulders to her waist. His thumb started brushing back and forth over her ribs the way it had traced a path over her arm a moment before, except now it was making Jemma's heart beat a bit faster. In turn, Jemma sat up long enough to swing her legs from where they'd been curled on the cushion beside her to lying across Fitz's lap. Then, she moved her head back to his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him again.

She watched with interest from under half-lidded eyes as Fitz looked from the screen to her legs to her face and back to her legs. She was once again wearing her cutoffs and a tshirt, and he seemed to appreciate the expanse of limbs now presented to him. Tentatively, the hand that wasn't busy moving distractingly close to her breast moved from the sofa's armrest to rest on her calf. She shivered as he gently trailed his fingers from her ankle to her knee.

"Smooth," he muttered under his breath, and she smiled.

\----------------------

Fitz shifted slightly as Jemma parted her legs and he settled between them. This was definitely, _definitely_   a superior way of ending a movie a night. 

He sighed happily as they made out on the couch, Jemma's legs wrapped around his waist and her arms wrapped around his neck.

"So, tomorrow," Fitz tried again, lifting his lips from hers.

"Right, tomorrow," she nodded seriously, right before pushing her hips up against his.

"Stop it, woman," he growled, giving her a fake frown.

"' _Woman'!_ " she gasped, looking not-at-all-convincingly affronted. "I have a name, you know!"

"I know," he smirked back, "I was moaning it in the shower earlier." Smooth.

She snorted and reached behind herself for a throw pillow to hit him in the face with. Or not.

" _Anyway,_ " he tried for at least the fourth time. Taking a deep breath, he went for it. "I want to go for lunch."

"Alright," Jemma agreed, pulling him down for another kiss.

"Wait," he resisted her, although he wanted nothing more than to keep making out.

Jemma rolled her eyes. " _Yes_ , we can go to that pizza place you love." She tried pulling him down again.

"Great," he said as he stopped her again. "But that's not what I was going to say."

"We can go early, too," Jemma tried again, nuzzling his neck. Damn, but she was a fast learner.

"I was _going to say_ ," he gritted his teeth and raised up on his knees, but then he was staring down at Jemma lying on the couch beneath him with her hair mussed and her lips red and her nipples hard and her legs spread. "What was I going to say?" he asked quietly as he stared at her.

Jemma grinned and reached out for the button on his fly. "It'll come back to you," she said slyly.

He grabbed her wrists in his hands. "I remember!"

She flopped back down on the cushion and looked at him expectantly. "Alright, what were you going to say?"

"I want to take you out for lunch, just the two of us, on a date," he said in a rush before she could distract him again.

"Right," she nodded.

He frowned down at her. "A _date_ ," he emphasized. Maybe she hadn't heard him?

"Yes," she nodded again.

"With me?" he asked to clarify.

She laughed and pulled him down by the waistband of his shorts. "I know," she smiled and kissed him.

"Well you didn't understand me _today_ , so I just wanted to be sure about _tomorrow_ is all," he grinned back, kissing her and settling back between her thighs.

"Mmhmm," she nodded against his lips. And then they weren't talking anymore.

\----------------------

It was almost midnight, and they were getting ready for bed. Jemma was in the bathroom removing her diaphragm and rinsing it off and Fitz was in her bedroom.

 _Fitz was in her bedroom_.

She stared at herself in the mirror and took a deep, steadying breath as she placed the silicone dome on a flannel to dry.

Opening the bathroom door, Jemma was presented with the picture of Fitz standing at the end of her bed in a tshirt and boxers and looking very conflicted.

"Problem?" she asked, and she had to resist the urge to cover herself with her hands. He'd seen her naked, touched every part of her, and spent hours making her feel good, but it still felt strangely intimate for him to see her in her tanktop and boyshorts.

He smiled wryly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Just, um, what side do you sleep on?" he asked, looking a bit lost.

"Oh, um," Jemma blinked. She usually slept in the middle. "Right?" she said hesitantly. "I guess?"

Fitz moved to get in the bed and then paused. "Right when you're _in_ the bed, or right when you're _looking at_ the bed?" he asked.

Jemma pointed to the side next to her alarm clock. " _That_ one," she smiled.

"Right," Fitz nodded in understanding. "I mean, _yeah_ ," he rubbed one hand across his eyes. "Why is this so bloody awkward?" he asked helplessly.

Why was he so bloody adorable? "Because first times usually are?" Jemma suggested, kissing him on the cheek.

"Not _always_ , though," Fitz grinned.

Jemma remembered the firsts they'd had in the kitchen that morning and the shower that evening. "Not always," she agreed vehemently.


	20. Night and Day

Jemma lay in bed thinking with Fitz's soft breathing beside her. 

She wasn't really used to "sleep overs," usually preferring to spend the night alone, so the logistics of suddenly sharing a bed had been a bit of a challenge. Fitz wasn't any more used to having a bedmate than she was, so they'd spent an hour just trying to get all of the various blankets and limbs figured out. Jemma's feet always got cold, but Fitz needed to have his legs out from under the covers. Fitz wanted to spoon, but then it was too hot and her hair was in his face and his arm fell asleep. Jemma tried to snuggle up with him on his back and one of her legs thrown across his waist, but that had lead to the opposite of sleep. Fun as that might be, it wasn't going to help them be able to think at work in the morning.

Finally, they had agreed that each of them taking half of the bed was probably the best way for them to get some actual rest. 

So now Fitz was laying there beside her, one leg sticking out from under the covers and one arm flung over his head. He was out like a light, the poor thing, finally getting a decent night's sleep for the first time in days. 

Jemma, however, was awake with no sleep in sight. She'd gone from having a best friend to having a live-in boyfriend in a matter of hours, and she was still thinking through all of the implications. 

Reaching over to her phone, she added an item to her To Do list for the next day. 

\-------------------------

Fitz woke up before his alarm for the second day in a row. Obviously, Jemma was having an unhealthy influence on him.

He looked over at the woman sleeping peacefully next to him and smiled. She was laying on her side with her back to him and her hair a mess on the pillow. Leaning over, he kissed her shoulder. Then he chuckled. Apparently, she'd had trouble sleeping and had ended up doing what he'd done the night before: reading  _Chemistry._

He reached over her and gently took the book out of her hand where it was flopped on the mattress. Marking her place, he leaned over a bit further to push it onto her bedside table. 

"G'morning," came a thick voice from below him. 

He looked down into the vague sleepy smile of Jemma Simmons waking up. It was totally unfair that she looked that good first thing in the morning. 

"G'morning," he replied with a voice creaky from not being used yet that day. 

He had been scooted up behind her, his torso leaning over top of her to reach the bedside table, and his hips aligned behind hers. But now, she was shifting position onto her back as she stared up at him, and he released his grip on the book to bring his hand in and rest it on her waist. 

"You missed," she whispered with a grin, dragging his hand up to cup her breast through her tank top. 

"Guess I need to practice," he whispered back, massaging her breast and rubbing her nipple with his thumb. 

"Mmhmm," she nodded, giving him a serious look. "You really do," she advised. 

"No time like the present," he rolled over onto his back, pulling her with him, and now she was sitting on top of him and both of his hands were busy on her chest. 

He'd been looking at pictures from the Hubble telescope for pretty much his entire life, awed by the beauty of space, but he didn't think there was anything in the universe more amazing than the sight of Jemma on top of him. 

Then she reached down and pulled her tank top over her head and he took her nude breasts in his hands. 

If this was what waking up before his alarm lead to, then he'd do it every day for the rest of his life and no complaints. 

Jemma leaned down to kiss him and then they both pulled back, noses wrinkled. 

"Maybe no kissing?" she asked. "At least until after brushing."

"Good call," he answered, sliding one hand down her ribs and around to grab her ass. "But can we still...?" he raised his brows hopefully. 

She nodded enthusiastically. "Definitely!"

And then she got off of him.

\-------------------------

Jemma wiggled out of her boyshorts as Fitz struggled his way out of his tshirt and boxers. She grabbed the box of condoms from her bedside table and handed him one as she got onto her hands and knees. 

Fitz frowned at the foil packet. "But yesterday...?" he asked.

She couldn't blame him. They'd had sex three times last night without a condom and she supposed he just assumed she was on birth control.

She frowned. Why hadn't they had that conversation. That was very unlike them.

She shook her head and smiled back at him. "Diaphragm," she explained. "So unless you want to wait while I put it in and the spermicide takes effect..." She pushed her ass up and wiggled it.

Fitz tore into the condom packet and rolled it on quickly. "Nope, we're good!" he reassured her, moving behind her and grabbing her hips. 

She laughed. A girl could get used to this kind of eagerness. 

And then she gasped because she'd been expecting his cock, but instead felt his tongue. 

" _Fitz_ ," she sighed, lowering her head to the mattress and arching her back to give him more access. She'd often wondered if his passion for eating would translate to the bedroom. It seemed like it definitely did. _  
_

His hands gripped her ass and spread her lips as his tongue swiped a wide path from her clit to her entrance, and she couldn't help but think of Chapter 24. 

He fucked his tongue inside her a few times before sucking her lips inside his mouth. Then he was licking again, pass after pass, and she was pushing her hips back to get even more. 

"My clit,' she gasped. "Lick my clit."

And he did, wiggling his tongue back and forth along it and the circling it before sucking it between his lips. He was moaning into her pussy as he made love to her with his tongue, and the vibrations felt so wonderful. His tongue and his lips performed magic on her clit and his nose pressed into her opening. But that wasn't what she wanted.

"Put it in me," she moaned, blindly groping with her hand for his cock. When she found it, she squeezed. "Please, Fitz?"

He sucked on her clit one last time and licked the length of her slit, and then he was kneeling behind her and gripping her hips and his cock was parting her lips and slipping inside.

" _Fuuuuuuck_ ," he groaned, pulling her back onto his cock. "You feel so fucking good, Jemma," he whispered.  _  
_

She flexed her Kegel muscles and squeezed around him. "You too," she whispered back, and she pushed back just as hard as he pulled. 

Soon they found their rhythm, their bodies coming together again and again with gasps and moans and the slapping of skin on skin. 

She reached down between her legs to rub her clit as he pounded into her, and soon she was coming, her passionate squeals buried in the mattress. 

"Fuck, Jemma," Fitz gasped, his thrusts speeding up as she came. "I'm gon-" he cut off with a strangled moan as he pulled her hard against his hips and spasmed inside her. He shuddered a few more times and then finally pulled out, collapsing beside her on the bed. 

"Good morning," she greeted him again, smiling happily.

"Fucking  _great_ morning," he laughed as he caught his breath.

\-------------------------

Fitz hummed happily to himself as he ran aeronautical simulations on his computer. Even the repeated turbine explosions that would usually have him tearing his hair out weren't enough to get him down today.

It was amazing how starting the day off with sex and a shared shower could improve his mood. 

He looked over at Jemma. She was bent over a microscope and her lab coat completely obscured her figure, but that didn't stop him from staring. If only he had X-ray vision, he'd be able to tell what she had on under that high-collared blouse and those well-fitting jeans. 

Red or black?

Both possibilities were enough to keep him smiling as he turned back to his computer in time to see another turbine explosion. He raised a mild eyebrow, shrugged, and adjusted another variable before running the simulation again. 

The red one was all lace and ribbons and frills. Not at all what he'd expect Jemma to wear under her fashionably conservative clothing with her hair in a ponytail and her eyes squinting at a slide. 

But then, neither was the black one. Sheer mesh that covered everything while leaving nothing at all to the imagination. 

He looked at her again. He still couldn't believe she'd bought  _one,_ let alone  _both_. 

Jemma Simmons had tarted herself up for him. 

The turbine exploded again, and he actually laughed. 

"You feeling okay, Fitz?" Khaja asked, peering around her own monitor.

"Feeling  _fantastic,_ " he reassured her. 

Then he reset his simulation and adjusted his variables again. 

 


	21. Lunch Date

"You look well-pleased," Jemma commented as they walked over to Fitz's favourite pizza place. "Simulations are going well, then?" That was a bit of a relief. When they weren't going well, she knew to expect a lunch hour of rants followed by an afternoon of short-tempered shouting over nothing.

"Hah!" Fitz barked out a laugh. "I've gone through 44 iterations and seen 44 explosions." He shook his head and held the door for her to pass through first.

Jemma frowned back at him as she flashed two fingers at the hostess coming across the room. "And yet you're _smiling_ ," she observed. At what point had S.H.I.E.L.D. replaced Fitz with a Life Model Decoy? And how exactly could she go about getting the real one back?

Fitz hugged her from behind as they walked over to the indicated table, resting his chin on her shoulder to whisper in her ear, "I'm pretty sure I could witness an _actual_ turbine explosion and still be smiling today."

Jemma shivered and laughed as she freed herself and slid into the booth. "Sounds like someone woke up on the right side of the bed," she said with an arched eyebrow and a pleased grin. She couldn't help looking around the restaurant to see if anyone had noticed them acting so couple-y.

They were a _couple_.

Her grin broadened and she felt a bit of a flush on her cheeks.

"From the looks of things," Fitz pointed to her own happy face, "I'm not the only one."

She was about to make a rather risque comment about whatever side of the bed he was in being the right one when a server came over with two menus for them. "Can I start you with something to drink?"

"Two ice waters, a Coke, and a Sprite please," Jemma replied with a smile.

"And we'll be having a medium Supreme, one half with extra pepperoni and the other half with extra mushrooms," Fitz added, handing the menus back.

"Coming right up."

\-----------------------

"... and _that's_ when it explodes, every single time," Fitz finished, pointing to the 7th in a series of napkin drawings he'd made.

Jemma was playing with her straw distractedly, stirring it around in her glass and taking occasional sips, as she shuffled through each napkin in turn. There was a furrow between her strong brows, but with her head tilted down he couldn't see her eyes.

Maybe next time he could sit beside her instead of across from her? Would that be weird? That'd probably be weird. Yeah, maybe don't do that.

"By all outward logic, this should work," Jemma shook her head, finally looking up.

He smiled ruefully, "And yet."

"And yet," she blew out a sympathetic breath. "More simulations this afternoon?" She looked up as their server came back with the bill. "Thank you," she smiled and reached for her bag.

"Unfortunately," Fitz replied in a grumbly voice that was more for show than because he was in a bad mood. Even if he had to watch 44 more failed simulations, he and Jemma were going home together tonight, and that had a wonderful new meaning to it now. He shifted in his seat to grab his wallet from his back pocket. "I've got this," he said, reaching for the cheque.

"What?" Jemma frowned. "But it's my turn."

"Yes, but I asked you to come," Fitz explained, hoping against hope that they could leave it at that.

"And I agreed," she insisted. "And you paid last time."

"Well, yeah," Fitz shrugged awkwardly. "But last time wasn't..." Fuck. As soon as he said it, he knew he'd made a tactical error.

"Wasn't what?" Jemma asked, one perfectly plucked eyebrow raised in warning.

"Wasn't..." his eyes shifted slightly as he tried to think of a better way of ending his sentence. "Wasn't really _a meal_ ," he finally finished. "Just coffee and a scone. Not enough to count as my turn."

Jemma squinted slightly, pursing her lips. "You're not trying to pay because this is a _date_ , are you?" she asked.

Lesson one in Jemma Simmons: doing something because the patriarchy says so is not a good enough reason to do it.

He raised his hands in self-defense and put on his most innocent expression. "Last time, I was buttering you up for a favour! This time, it's just my turn!"

She gave him one last, long appraising look before nodding with a wry grin. " _Alright,_ " she conceded. "But next time, it's _my_ treat."

Fitz grinned back as he exited the booth and grabbed her hand to help her up. "In that case," he said, leaning down to give her a soft kiss. "I'll be ordering lobster."

 -----------------------

They were going to be five minutes early back, and they were just around the corner from the lab, so Jemma decided to seize the opportunity.

She also seized Fitz.

With a wicked grin on her face, she ducked into a gap between two storefront bay windows and pulled the hand she held to bring him in with her.

"Wha-" he started to ask, eyebrows raised in adorable surprise.

But she interrupted him with a quick yank on his tie that brought his lips into kissing range. She closed her eyes as their lips met, and she wondered how she'd be able to concentrate all afternoon with him and his lips and his, _oh his hands_ not ten feet away from her in the lab.

She sighed into his mouth as his hands squeezed her ass and with one last brief kiss, she released him.

"Black, by the way," she said, looking him in the eye.

He blinked at her, obviously needing a moment to catch up with what she was talking about. "Black?" he asked vaguely while staring at her mouth.

She bit her lower lip and brought one hand up between them to loosen the top two buttons on her blouse. She could hardly believe she'd started making out with him on a public street, but she had a lot of years of making out with Fitz to catch up on. Anyone who didn't like it could go hang.

"I'm wearing the black one," she elaborated, delicately moving her blouse open so that he could see down it.

"Holy sh-" Fitz's eyes widened and the hands he'd moved to her waist gripped her tight.

She gave him another quick kiss and buttoned her blouse up again. "Just thought you'd want to know," she smiled, returning to the sidewalk.

A moment later, Fitz caught up with her. "You're gonna pay for that, later," he promised.

She certainly _hoped_ so.


	22. Later - Part One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Split into two parts because I'm tired and headachy and just can't write anymore, but this is like 1600 words or so already, so that's long enough for a chapter. Right? Right.

"Yes, next Thursday should be perfect," Jemma nodded, making a note in her calendar. "Thanks very much, Dr. Jeong." With the amount of sex she and Fitz were having, a diaphragm and condoms really weren't the best prophylactic solution. But her period was due on Sunday, so she should be able to start hormonal birth control by the end of next week. Unless of course she opted for the IUD. She'd do her research and talk it out with Dr. Jeong, but either way by next weekend, she and Fitz would be able to copulate like _leporidae_ with a bit more spontaneity.

"Ready to go?" she asked Fitz as he returned from the loo.

"Yeah," he nodded, frowning slightly. "Actually, can we stop back at mine on the way?"

"Of course," she agreed, looping her arm through his as they walked to the elevators. "Did you forget something?"

He blushed slightly and cleared his throat, looking at their coworkers who were also waiting for the lift. "Just want to check on the progress with the AC," he said with the tight smile she knew indicated a lie.

"Taxi?" Jemma suggested when they got to street level. Two blocks to a restaurant in this heat was one thing, but Fitz's apartment was a 20 minute walk away. Without the prospect of a cool room to enter at the end, she didn't really fancy a trek that far in her work clothes.

" _Definitely_ ," Fitz agreed, throwing a hand out to hail one.

Once they were comfortably ensconced in the back seat, Jemma pulled his arm around her shoulders and leaned up to whisper in his ear. "Why are we _really_ going to your apartment?" She squeezed his thigh and nibbled his earlobe. "The grab bar and decals for your shower are back at my place."

Fitz's eyes widened, and he coughed violently enough that the cabbie looked back at them in the rearview mirror. "No sex in my cab," he said flatly, turning his eyes back to the road.

"We weren't-!" Fitz protested weakly.

Jemma laughed and kissed him on the cheek. "Do you need more pants?" she asked, smiling up at him.

He clenched his jaw tight and crossed his arms to glare out the window. "Yes," he muttered, just barely audible.

Jemma laughed again.

\------------------------

Fitz was already wiping the sweat off his face, and he hadn't even unlocked his apartment door yet.

"I'll be quick," he promised as he let them inside.

" _Please_ ," Jemma agreed, lifting her blouse between two fingers and fanning it. He watched her, thinking back to how she'd unbuttoned that same blouse on a public street to show him the lingerie she was wearing under it.

He  _had_ told her she'd pay for it later...

This _was_ certainly later...

Grinning to himself, he turned to his bedroom. "Why don't you get yourself a glass of water?"

"Good idea. Dehydration is a real worry in this heat."

Fitz grabbed a handful of boxers from his top dresser drawer and stuffed them in an old back pack. He added two more work shirts while he was at it because, as much as people hadn't generally made a huge fuss over their new relationship status, he'd received enough comments not to want to show up at work wearing the same shirt two days in a row.

He was about to leave his room when he went back and fumbled in his bedside table drawer.

"Damnit," he cursed. Expired. He threw the last two foil packets into the trash and folded the cardboard box up for the recycling bin. He hadn't been planning to use them just now, anyway, but he'd figured he could bring them back to Jemma's.

The rate they were going at, they'd need all the condoms they could get.

He felt the same dopey grin he'd been wearing all day spread over his face.

Thankfully, there were any number of things they could do that didn't require condoms.

\------------------------

Jemma was refilling her glass at the sink when Fitz's arms wrapped around her from behind. She smiled as he moved her hair aside to kiss her neck, and then she laughed as he tickled her ribs.

"Fitz," she playfully poked him with her elbow. "Stop it, it's entirely too hot for that." And yet, she couldn't help turning around and wrapping her arms loosely around his neck. His curls were damp with the same sweat that covered his face in a sheen and his shirt stuck to his chest, dark patches already appearing under his arms, and she couldn't help remembering what he'd looked like the last time they'd been here.

She bit her lower lip and flicked her eyes down to his lips before meeting his gaze again. "At least..." she said suggestively, her hands sliding down from the back of his neck to the knot of his tie.

"At least?" he asked, leaning forward to kiss her neck again, and her head lolled to the side as she sighed.

"At least," she said slowly as she loosened his tie and dropped it to the floor. "While we're still dressed."

She could feel Fitz's lips curve up into a smile against her throat, and she smiled too. She knew, intellectually, that they couldn't sustain this level of passion for their entire relationship, but that didn't mean she wouldn't enjoy every second of it now.

Besides, they excelled in most other aspects of their lives. Why not this too?

She cupped Fitz's face in her hands and brought him up for a kiss as his fingers worked on the buttons of her blouse. He pushed it off her shoulders without lifting his lips from hers, and she reached both arms behind herself to pull it off her wrists and allow it to flutter to the floor.

His tongue was doing truly inspirational things in her mouth while he unbuttoned her jeans, and she'd barely started on his button-down. But then her fly was undone and he'd pushed her jeans down her hips and over her ass, and now he was kissing her neck, her chest, her breasts above her bra.

" _Fuck_ , Jemma," he moaned as he licked her nipple through the translucent mesh. "I can't believe you wore this to _work_."

Her throaty chuckle turned into a quick intake of breath as he kissed her tummy and licked her belly button. "I'll wear the red one tomorrow," she promised, tangling her fingers in his hair as he kissed her hip and pulled her jeans the rest of the way and helped her step out of them.

"You do that," Fitz laughed, standing back up and giving her a peck. "And those turbines won't be the only things exploding."

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "They will while we're in the lab," she said, pulling him down for a firmer kiss and moving her fingers back to his shirt buttons. It was all fun to talk about misbehaving at work, but actually doing so would be disastrous for any number of reasons. Not the least of which was the delicate nature of the samples she worked with on a daily basis.

"Well," Fitz said, catching her hands in his and wrapping them around his neck. "Our lunch hours are our own," he said with a significant look. And then he picked her up and deposited her on the counter next to his fridge. "And hotels have room service," he grinned wickedly.

"Leopold Fitz!" Jemma said, honestly shocked. "Are you proposing we...?" She couldn't even say it, she was so surprised.

"Jemma Simmons," he said with false solemnity. "Will you have a nooner with me?"

They both laughed, foreheads pressed together, and Jemma spread her legs to wrap them around Fitz's waist. She schooled her features into an expression resembling seriousness and smoothed out the cotton of his shirt with her fingers. "I will," she said in an even tone. And then a smile broke across her face and she kissed him again.

"Now get out of those clothes, already," she said, impatiently pulling his shirt to untuck it from his jeans. "You must be boiling in this heat."

\------------------------

"I'm always hot around you," he growled. Then he paused, eyebrows raised, gauging her reaction to that.

Giggles. Of course. Bloody typical, really. Here he has a gorgeous woman wearing nothing but some _incredibly amazing lingerie_ , sitting on his kitchen counter with her legs wrapped around his waist, and how does she react to his supremely smooth lines? With giggles.

He leaned forward and kissed her mid-laugh. How had there ever been a time when he _hadn't_ had a crush on her?

"You really are," Jemma whispered against his lips, and when he leaned back she was giving him that look like he was her hero again, and he suddenly didn't know what to do with his hands.

Thankfully, Jemma's hands took over and finished unbuttoning his shirt and pushing it off his shoulders. He finally unfroze when she used his shirt and her legs to pull him in tight against her.

"We can't!" he blurted as his thoughts immediately careened down the pathway to sex in his kitchen. "I don't have-"

"I do," Jemma interrupted him, kissing his neck in that way that turned his knees to jelly. He gripped the edge of the countertop to stay standing.

"But it's too hot," he tried again, valiantly struggling to remember what his plan had been when he'd entered the room.

"I like you sweaty," Jemma grinned saucily, licking her lips and then licking the other side of his neck.

This was so surprising to him that he actually managed to pull away from her. "You do?" he asked, his forehead wrinkling.

"Mmhmm," she nodded, pulling him back in. "When I came over here the other day and you were all sweaty and greasy," she kissed him hard and deep and took his breath away. "I _wished_ I could do this."

Fitz swallowed hard and moved back a bit to see her more clearly. "There's something I wished I could do that day, too," he said. 

And then he opened the freezer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I believe in recycling. Thus my re-using the "copulate like leporidae" joke from Methodology ;)


	23. Later - Part Two

"You _saw_ that?" Jemma asked, blushing unaccountably. By all estimations, he'd certainly seen her doing much _much_ more explicit things than simply cool down with an ice cube, but the fact that she'd been cooling off as much from the sight of him sweaty and shirtless as from the heat was what was flushing her cheeks. "And you didn't _say_ anything?" she asked a bit louder, smacking him on the shoulder.

"Hey!" Fitz protested, letting the freezer door close as he protected himself from her attack. "What was I _supposed_ to say? 'Hey Jem, could you _not_ act out a pornographic fantasy of mine in my kitchen? That'd be great.' I mean, _c'mon_."

Jemma's eyebrows rose as Fitz admitted his fantasy and suddenly her hot face wasn't caused by embarrassment. "Really?" she whispered, fascinated. "Do tell."

Fitz froze, eyes widening as he realized what he'd said. He was like a cute little deer in the headlamps. Except sexier. And half-naked. And conveniently located between her thighs.

"Um," he swallowed, clearly not sure what else to say. "I mean..." He looked at her as if he were calculating something in his head and when he seemed to have reached the final sum, he took a deep breath and shrugged. "There was this... film, I saw once."

"A film?" Jemma smiled, leaning her head back against the cupboard doors and looking at him with interest. "What was it about?" She was rather proud she managed to keep a straight face for that one.

Fitz scrubbed a hand through his hair and blew out a breath, obviously determined to stick out the conversation in the hopes of what might come after it. "It was some old movie my mum likes."

"Your _mum_?" Jemma asked. _That_ was unexpected.

"Yeah," he nodded. "Some 80's thing that everyone went ape shit over at the time."

"Wait," Jemma's brows drew together as she held up a hand in front of her. "You mean a real _film_ , don't you?"

"Yeah?" Fitz frowned back. "What _else_ would I-" His mouth opened into a large O of outrage. "Jemma Simmons!"

" _You're_ the one who said it was a ' _pornographic_ ' fantasy!"

"I _also_ said it was in a film my _mum_ likes!"

"That did give me pause, yes, but-"

"My **mum** , Jemma!"

"I'm sorry!" she laughed, grabbing his face and bringing him close for a kiss, giving him a peck even when he screwed his mouth shut in a pout. "I'm sorry," she said again more seriously.

"Yeah, well," he pouted a bit more. "Just you apologize to my mum the next time you talk to her."

Jemma blinked as she thought out how that conversation might go. "Can I do it without explaining _why_?" she asked.

She watched as Fitz ran through the same mental process she had just completed. "Yeah, that'd probably be best."

\--------------------

Fitz sighed and dropped his head down to Jemma's shoulder. So much for that idea.

He gave her a brief kiss on the neck, then grabbed her legs and wrapped them around his waist. "So," he said with a smile, hoping to get back to where they'd been before. "You were saying something about liking me all greasy?" Since when had _that_ been the case? Because he had any number of memories of her wrinkling her nose at him and telling him he was disgusting.

Jemma rolled her jaw and stared at him in that way she had when she was making a decision, her head tilted slightly to one side. Then, with a small grin, she reached over and opened up the freezer door again.

"I get _my_ fantasy a few times a week," she said, leaning forward and giving him a quick kiss. "I think it's probably your turn now."

"Yeah?" he asked, excitement surging through him from his toes to his stomach.

"And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious," she winked.

"Best girlfriend _ever_ ," he breathed, moving in to kiss her again.

"Girlfriend?" she asked, and the last time he'd seen her smile that big he'd been busy trying not to vomit on whatever it was she had on her table.

"Well, yeah," he nodded. "I mean, it's not really the _best_ word for you, but it'll do until I can think of a better one." Partner was too business-like. Lover didn't describe the other 95% of their relationship.

Jemma nodded, squinting in thought. "Yes," she agreed. " _Boyfriend_ seems kind of... trivial? Or something," she shrugged and shook her head, dissatisfied.

"Exactly," he said, grabbing the ice tray from the freezer.

"Suitor?" she laughed, jumping down from the counter.

"Sweetheart?" he chuckled, popping the cubes out.

"Dahling?" she said, copping her poshest of accents as she grabbed a bowl from the cupboard and handed it to him.

"Valentine?" he suggested as he dumped them all in the bowl.

"Paramour," she said definitively, grabbing him by his belt loops and pulling him in for a kiss.

"Bit of stuff," he waggled his eyebrows and wrapped an arm around her waist, dragging her out of his kitchen and down his hall, the bowl of ice in his other hand.

"Oh, is that how it is?" she asked archly. "In that case, you're my cocksman."

He grinned as she pinched his bottom. "Glad to hear it." He smacked her bottom lightly in turn, grinning at her small yelp, and then ushered her into his bedroom.

\--------------------

"So," Jemma asked, turning to face him with the bed behind her. "How do you want me?" She struck a pose, slightly self-conscious now that she was in her slightly scandalous lingerie in the full light of the afternoon sun in his bedroom. When in doubt, best to be bold.

She'd been bold quite a bit lately.

It had worked out surprisingly well, really.

Plus, Fitz was just adorable when he was all gobsmacked like that.

"That is a _much_ longer answer than you're looking for," he finally managed, and she made a mental note to ask him again sometime when there wasn't a bowl of ice melting in his hand.

The smile had been on her face so long it was starting to hurt, and she couldn't think of a better problem to have. "I mean," she clarified, "How did it work in the film?"

Fitz blushed and gulped a mouthful of air before blowing it out slowly. "I dunno that we need to do _that_ bit," he said, screwing up his face a bit awkwardly.

"Oh c'mon," Jemma teased, taking the bowl and placing it on his bedside table before pulling him into a loose hug. "You did the shower thing for _me_ ," she said. "Let me do this for you."

He chuckled softly and kissed her. "Trust me when I say that the shower thing was for _both_ of us."

"Even better," she insisted. "In that case, you'll owe me one." She blushed and couldn't help but think of Chapter 24 again.

"You say that like you have something in mind," he said with a squint down at her.

She shrugged with the most innocent look she could muster in her current state of dishabille. "Only way to find out is if you owe me one."

One nice thing about Fitz was the fact that curiosity trumped pretty much all of his other emotions, even embarrassment.

He took a deep breath and looked at her askance for a moment before nodding and diving in. "In the _movie_ ," he said, "And I'm just describing it because you asked, not because I want you to do it-"

"Yes, yes, what is it?" Jemma asked impatiently. Curiosity was trumping all of _her_ emotions just now too.

"The woman was," he hesitated before plunging on. "She was wearing panties and a man's shirt and... and a blindfold."

 _Oh_. Well then.

"Alright," she said, swallowing with her suddenly dry mouth.

"What?"

"Alright," she repeated. "Can I borrow a shirt?"

Fitz blinked and watched her walk over to his closet. "But-"

"Maybe we could use a tie as the blindfold?" she asked, flipping through the different plaids until she found a plain burgundy shirt she quite liked. "This one?" she asked, holding it out.

\--------------------

Fitz stared as Jemma took his description and ran with it. She certainly was good at following directions... even before they'd been given

"I, um..." he licked his dry lips. "Okay?" he asked, nonplussed.

"Bra or no?" she asked as she took it off the hanger.

"No?" he said, still staring as she laid his shirt on his bed and then reached around to undo her clasp. He breasts bounced slightly as she slid her bra down her arms and dropped it onto his floor, and then they swayed as she leaned over to pick his shirt back up. God, they were perfect. He just wanted to watch them all day.

"How's this?" Jemma asked, scooping her hands under her thick hair to pull it out of the back of his shirt and then rolling the sleeves up where they'd fallen over her hands.

"Perfect," he whispered, staring at the gap at the front of his shirt where her breasts and panties were still visible. "I don't think we need the blindfold, though," he demurred.

"Are you sure?" she asked, looking almost... disappointed?

"Next time," he grinned.

"Next time," she confirmed with a return grin, sitting on the edge of the bed. "So should I...?"

He nodded. "Lie back, and put your arms above your head."

And then she was stretched out on his bed, shirt gaping open _almost_ enough, mesh panties not hiding a god damn thing, and the sort of wicked smile that would keep his spank bank well stocked for _years_.

She stared up at him, biting her lower lip and wiggling her hips just slightly. "Show me, Fitz," she whispered. "Show me what you were thinking of the other day."

He sat down on the bed alongside her, his thigh touching her hip, and stared down at her flushed, sweaty face. Her huge brown eyes were wide and unblinking and her full pink lips were parted slightly, just waiting for his kiss.

Reaching across himself, he dipped his hand into the bowl full of melting ice and pulled out a cube. He held it over those parted pink lips and watched as first one drop and then another fell off the tip and onto Jemma's outstretched tongue. She gasped at the coolness and he gasped at the sight, and then he brought the ice down and swept it across her lips.

She opened her mouth and sucked it inside while he held onto it, and suddenly it wasn't ice he was thinking of putting into her mouth.

" _Fuck_ ," he whispered as he pushed the cube in and out of her mouth a few times, her tongue teasing his fingers with each movement. Then he pulled it out and sucked it into his own mouth before leaning down for a kiss.

The cold of the ice and the heat of her tongue warred for possession of his mouth, and he moaned as he melted against her.

His frigid fingers moved under the cotton of his dress shirt and he felt her shiver as they tweaked her nipple.

He continued to tease her breast as he sat up once more and grabbed another piece of ice. This one he caught between his teeth before leaning down and trailing it across her lips before sliding it over her chin and down her neck. She whimpered beneath him and tangled her fingers in his hair, and then he was moving across her chest, leaving a path of cold water wherever he went.

When he reached her other nipple, he slipped the ice out of his mouth with his fingers and teased her with his now-cold tongue. She gasped and arched up against him, and did it again when he replaced his tongue with the ice. It was just a stub now, and he sat back up to feed it to her, enjoying the way she sucked on his fingers as well as the ice.

Reaching for another cube, he held this one in the valley between her breasts and drew pictures with it over her belly. Her stomach was rising and falling rapidly with her short, quick breaths, and he relished his view. He circled the ice again and again around her navel, creating a pool of water that occasionally spilled over and dripped down her ribs to his bed with the breaths.

He couldn't resist drinking it.

\--------------------

Jemma sighed and moaned as Fitz's mouth and tongue teased her stomach. She couldn't seem to catch her breath in the hot air of his apartment, and her eyes kept rolling closed with every new sensation.

She gasped as a fresh piece of ice suddenly traced a path along the waistband of her panties and whimpered as it was followed by the hot trail of Fitz's tongue.

She had no idea what film he'd been talking about before, but they were _definitely_ going to watch it next movie night.

And then the ice was gone and his fingers were tugging her panties down over her hips. She lifted her ass off the bed to help him and was rewarded with a soft kiss to her right thigh.

"Yes," she sighed, brushing her fingers through his hair again. She absolutely _loved_ how enthusiastic Fitz was about oral sex, and not just receiving like some of the men she'd dated.

The ice seemed to be gone now, but he must be dipping his fingers into the cold water in the bowl because his hands were wonderfully cool as they tickled along her ribs and over her hips to cup her ass. He was kissing her other thigh now, so close to where she wanted him to be but staying maddeningly far away, and his hands were caressing her so softly and gently that she could almost fall asleep.

Almost.

If not for the increasingly large knot of tension winding up inside of her.

He kissed his way from her knee to her hip and then over her stomach before using his hands to roll her over.

"Fitz?" she asked, simultaneously relaxed and aroused.

It seemed he did have one ice cube left after all. She shivered as he drew it down her spine, from the nape of her neck to the flare of her ass and back again, following each pass of ice with a pass of his tongue.

When he reached the base of her spine, she pushed her ass up hoping he'd take the hint and give her what she wanted.

Instead, he kissed her left cheek, nibbling slightly, and gave her a light smack on the right one.

\--------------------

"Alright," he said, standing up with a tone of unconcern that was belied by the rather obvious tent in his jeans. "Shall we head back to yours?"

" _What?_ " Jemma asked, turning over and giving him a wonderfully incredulous look. He was going to remember that later when he was no doubt sleeping on the couch again.

Sometimes, you just _had_ to do something you knew was stupid.

Fitz smiled beatifically down at her and bent down to the floor for her panties. "Remember on the street when you flashed me your lingerie, and I said you'd pay for it later?" He dangled them off his index finger. "It's later."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The movie Fitz is talking about is called 9 1/2 Weeks. The ice cube scene can be found [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L5h-86gBWw). (obviously nsfw)


	24. Chapter Twenty-Four

 

> _"I want to make you feel things no other man has made you feel," Leonard moaned in Jenna's ear. His hands played her like an instrument, plucking the strings that made her sing out._
> 
> _"Ohhhh, you do, Leonard!" Jenna moaned, her head rolling back and forth on her pillow. "You do!"_
> 
> _Her back arched as he made his way down to her heaving breasts, kissing the soft, alabaster skin before suckling the puckered red peaks._
> 
> _"I want to make you come like no one else," he continued, his fingers plunging into her depths, stirring her insides to new heights. "I want to ruin you for other men."_

Fitz wrinkled his nose. _This_ was what Jemma wanted? He squinted at the book and glanced at the wall behind him. That didn't really seem like her.

Of course, he never would have guessed that she'd want to have sex with him in the shower. Or at all, for that matter.

With a sigh and a shake of his head, he dove back into _Chemistry_.

\--------------------

Jemma fidgeted on the floor in front of her couch, sitting cross legged with her article and sources spread out on the coffee table, floor, and sofa cushions. She'd told Fitz that she needed some time to herself to focus on her paper and had banished him to her bedroom. It had worked... for about half an hour. And then she started thinking about what he was doing in there.

She gnawed on the end of her pen and stared at her bedroom door. On the one hand, nervous about him not liking the chapter but on the other hand, nervous about him liking it perhaps too much?

Drawing a shaky breath, she shook her head and forced herself to concentrate.

\--------------------

Fitz's eyebrows rose as he kept reading. This was...

He gulped, suddenly wishing he had a glass of water, and shifted his position on Jemma's bed.

This was _not_ what he'd been expecting as a punishment for that stupid prank he'd pulled.

This was...

Well, 'punishment' didn't really seem like the right word, for one.

He glanced at the wall behind him again, wishing he could see through it.

\--------------------

Jemma paced back and forth in her kitchen, waiting for the kettle to boil. Times like these, a girl just needed a cup of tea. 

She laughed a bit and shook her head. The look on Fitz's face when she'd laid into him in his apartment. The poor thing. If he hadn't wound her up so tight before pulling the rug out from under her, she wouldn't have gotten so angry. But really, all _she'd_ done was flashed him her bra. _He'd_ gotten her naked and played hot and cold with her whole body and then just _stopped_. That was hardly equivalent.

She'd made that _abundantly_ clear.

\--------------------

Fitz carefully fitted the bookmark between the pages and placed the novel on the bedside table. He blinked for a moment or two, considering.

That was _quite_ a chapter, with a _lot_ of stuff in it.

Did Jemma want _all_ of that? And if she _did_ want all of that, did she want it all at once? And if she _did_ want it all at once, would she be able to smuggle him some viagra or something because the sheer number of times that 'Leonard' had gotten it up was... Well, Fitz  _might_ be able to manage it with the proper motivation? But he'd definitely need to be well-fed and well-rested before the attempt.

He remembered Jemma, naked and gasping on his bed that afternoon, and he didn't think motivation was going to be a problem.

He suddenly wished he went to the gym more. Or really at all. He might have to start? The cardio alone...

\--------------------

The whistle of the kettle interrupted Jemma's thoughts, and she set about preparing her tea on autopilot.

She still couldn't believe she'd done that. Even given the nature of the situation, she wouldn't have thought she'd had it in her to just...

She blushed.

Opening the fridge, she closed her eyes for a moment and enjoyed the coolness on her flushed cheeks. Then she grabbed the milk and turned back to her task.

It wasn't _that_... scandalous, was it? He was her boyfriend after all, and he'd seen every inch of her naked already, seen her orgasm any number of times. He'd even seen her touch herself, however briefly.

But still, the fact that she'd spread herself open right there on his bed in the full light of day with him standing over her, and just...

She took a sip of her too-hot tea and breathed out a whimper.

What was it about Fitz that made her lose all semblance of control? Was it just that she'd wanted him on and off for years? She'd been crushing on him at the most inconvenient times ever since she was 17, and now that he was finally crushing back it was like she needed to catch up on all those lost opportunities at once.

It was overwhelming how hard it was to resist touching him and kissing him and, yes, having sex with him any time he was in the room. That's why she'd had to send him away in order to get work done.

How in the world were they supposed to be FitzSimmons when all Simmons could think about was Fitz's... equipment?

\--------------------

Fitz resisted the urge to go back into the living room and ask Jemma some rather specific questions. She needed to work right now, and he was a distraction.

He knew that feeling well enough.

He still hadn't gotten over the embarrassment of having Director Fury catch him in a sexy daydream during a meeting.

But honestly, _how_ was he supposed to think of anything else when he _could_ be thinking about Jemma?

When she'd started touching herself that afternoon, he hadn't been able to believe it. He'd thought that after his little 'joke' she'd harangue him and then he'd take her out to dinner to apologize.

She'd harangued him, alright, to within an inch of his life, but when he'd suggested they get dressed and get something to eat, she'd given him the sort of determined glare he'd learned never to argue with and reached down between her legs to touch what he'd stayed away from.

"We're not going anywhere," she'd said firmly, "Until I take care of this."

He'd nodded and stared, watching her slim fingers slide through her folds while the sunlight shone gold on her skin and glinted off her wetness. He'd never seen anything sexier.

"Hell yeah," he'd breathed, kneeling down beside the bed and leaning towards her sex.

"Hell _no_ ," she'd retorted, pressing one foot against his chest to keep him from getting any closer.

"What?" he'd said, completely surprised. She was obviously still in the mood for sex, and who was he to argue?

"You had your chance," she'd said in a breathy voice, her eyes closing as her fingers moved more quickly.

All he'd been able to do was watch and stare as Jemma worked herself over.

Well, not _all_.

He'd also unzipped his jeans and pulled out his hardon to stroke it in time to her movements.

Eventually, she'd lifted her foot from his chest in order to part her legs wider, and he'd leaned in to within inches of her pussy, closing his eyes as he inhaled her scent and then opening them again so as not to miss the spectacle in front of him.

His hand had moved quick and sure along his shaft, stroking his cock with the kind of hard grip that ensured he wouldn't last long.

When she'd come, he'd seen the way she contracted around her fingers and remembered the way it felt when she did that around his cock, and soon enough he'd followed her over the edge.

He'd wanted to lean forward and lick up her wetness, kiss her fingers and thighs and move up her body to her mouth.

Instead, she'd pushed her foot against his chest again to move him away from the bed.

"I'm going to take a shower," she'd said as if she hadn't just shown him the most amazing thing he'd ever seen. "You should probably clean that up."

He'd looked down then and seen the mess he'd made all over his hand and bedsheets.

\--------------------

"Alright, alright," Fitz admitted over dinner. "It was a stupid thing to do. I'm sorry."

"You don't _seem_ sorry," Jemma rolled her eyes. Really, she was half-amused by it now. Her face when he'd stopped had probably been a picture, much like his had been when she'd flashed him her lingerie.

"Well," he blushed a bit and ducked his head closer to her to whisper. "I mean, it _did_ sort of lead to the hottest thing I've ever seen before, so..." he shrugged and sat up straight again. "I'm sorry, but I'm also not?"

Jemma laughed and blushed right back. "I guess you'll have to return the favour for me, sometime," she said, eyes glinting as she took a sip of her wine.

"You mean...?" Fitz asked, eyebrows raised and disbelief written all over his face.

Jemma leaned in in much the same way that Fitz had. "You're not the only one who thinks it's hot to watch a wank," she said with a wink.

Fitz gulped. "Any time," he breathed.

"Well, first you have to make this afternoon up to me," Jemma said.

"Anything!" he said quickly. "You name it!"

Jemma bit her lip and looked at him for a moment, considering. Finally, she asked, "How far have you read in _Chemistry_?"

"The shower scene in Chapter 18," he said promptly.

She stared for a moment longer. "I think I want to try Chapter 24."


	25. Bed Time

Jemma closed her laptop with a snap and stretched out her tense muscles with a smile on her face. 7,912 words. She'd done it! And it was only...

Oh. Almost midnight.

She grimaced guiltily. Poor Fitz had been sequestered in her bedroom ever since they'd gotten back from dinner. At least he had a laptop and wifi?

And _Chemistry._

She bit her lip as the butterflies that seemed to have taken up residence in her stomach at the same time that Fitz took up residence in her apartment started fluttering their wings rapidly.

Standing up, she pushed her shoulders back in determination and walked into the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth before bed.

Bed.

She swallowed hard as she looked at herself in the mirror. Did she _really_ want to try Chapter 24? She'd never seen the appeal before, but suddenly some purple prose had her curious. More than curious, really. Between reading about Leonard and Jenna and actually experiencing Fitz...

She spat out her mouthwash and then rinsed.

Anyway, it wasn't like she expected them to try the entire chapter. If she'd bought the book rather than borrowed it, she would have just highlighted the relevant passages, but as it was...

Maybe she _should_ purchase a copy? Then she could highlight, annotate, edit.

That dialogue, for instance. She shook her head as she wiped her flannel over her face. Truly atrocious, really, but the descriptions of the physical acts were nothing short of inspiring.

She blushed and grinned as she dried her face. If she were going to edit the dialogue, she could also alter the names a bit. Jemma and Leo had a much nicer ring to them, she chuckled.

Turning to her laundry basket, she reached down to the hem of her shirt and then hesitated. When she was on her own, she'd strip her clothes off and into the hamper and then grab her pajamas out of a drawer in her room. But she wasn't on her own just now. And while she knew for a fact that Fitz wouldn't mind at all if she spent every waking minute in the nude, she wasn't sure that was the entrance she wanted to make just now.

Looking around, she spotted her robe hanging on the back of the bathroom door. Perfect compromise.

Encased in flannel fluffiness and with her clothes in the laundry, Jemma opened the door to her bedroom as the butterflies took wing again.

She needn't have worried. Fitz was passed out cold, lengthways across the mattress.

Breathing a laugh out through her nose, she shook her head and grabbed her pajamas from the top drawer of her bureau. Of _course_ he was asleep. What else should she have expected?

She dropped her robe and stood there for a moment, completely naked, looking at him lying there fully clothed. An unexpected shiver ran through her at the unplanned exhibitionism, and she suddenly wished he'd wake up.

"Fitz?" she called softly, wondering if he would.

Her nipples tightened as he shifted position slightly, but he remained resolutely unconscious.

"Fitz?" she asked again, moving to stand at the edge of her bed. If he woke up now, he'd be greeted by an up-close view of the soft curls between her thighs. She blushed and parted her legs slightly, but he didn't even twitch.

She bit her lip and sighed as she looked at his peacefully sleeping face. She really wanted to sit on it.

No. She shook her head. They hadn't yet discussed what was and wasn't alright to do when the other one was asleep, but she was fairly sure that waking him up _that_ way was not just morally ambiguous at best but also a suffocation hazard.

Instead, she gritted her teeth and pulled on her tanktop and boyshorts. With one last parting look and kiss on his forehead, she went back out to the living room, closing her bedroom door firmly behind her.

Now, where had Fitz put the bedding he'd had for her couch?

\-----------------------

Fitz snorted himself awake and then whipped his head around trying to catch his bearings. Blinking and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with one hand, he raised himself up on one elbow and was able to orient himself in Jemma's bedroom. It was pitch black. What the hell time _was_ it?

He pressed the button on the side of his gold, digital watch and it lit up, informing him that it was just after two in the morning.

He swiped a groggy hand through the mess that was his hair and yawned wide enough to crack his jaw. If Jem were still working on that bloody article...

With a groan of misery, he pulled himself up to a fully seated position. God. Waking up was just the _worst_. He yawned again and scrubbed both hands over his face, slapping his cheeks lightly in an effort at wakefulness. He'd need his faculties about him if he was going to argue with Jemma about coming to bed.

His current yawn truncated into a chuckle and a grin. Come to bed. He was going to go out into the living room and grump at Jemma to come back to bed. With him. And he was going to spoon her whether she liked it or not, for at _least_ ten minutes. Maybe fifteen.

He smacked he tongue around in his mouth for a moment before making a sour face. Pitstop wouldn't be a bad idea, first, though.

Once he was in the bathroom, he realized that his bladder had a message for him to relieve into the toilet. That done, he flushed and washed his hands before grabbing his toothbrush and taking care of whatever had died in the back of this throat. He tried in vain to get his hair to lay flat in the back instead of sticking up in the most ridiculous direction possible, but it was having none of that.

After a moment's brief hesitation, he shucked off his jeans and emptied out the pockets before stuffing them in the laundry hamper under the counter. Probably best to keep the tshirt and boxers on, though. She seemed to have gotten over her irritation with him from that afternoon, but he didn't want her to think that his call to bed had _expectations_ behind it.

Not that that wouldn't be absolutely fucking fantastic, of course. He just didn't want her to think he expected it.

With a final glance in the mirror and a nod to himself, he opened the door to the living room, ready to admonish her for working herself to death. Instead, his lecture died on his lips as they smiled at the image in front of him.

Jemma was lying face down on the couch covered in the blanket he'd been using all weekend. Her hair was a spaghetti bowl of tangles almost completely covering her face, and her cheek rested on one of her hands.

She was adorable.

"Jem," he whispered, trying to wake her up just enough to get her to her bed. _He_ was the one who was supposed to be banished to sleeping on the sofa tonight, not _her_.

When she didn't move or wake at all, he moved closer and stroked a gentle hand along her hair and down her back. "Jem, sweetheart," he whispered a bit louder.

She murmured a noncommittal noise into the pillow and pressed her face harder against the back of her hand.

"C'mon, love," he urged her, shaking her shoulder slightly. "Come to bed."

"Fftzz?" she muttered indistinctly, squirming away from his hand.

"That's right, sweetheart," he said crouching down beside her couch as she turned toward him. Wrapping her arms around his neck, he slid one arm under her knees and the other behind her back and sent up a silent prayer.

"Up we go," he said, staggering to his feet. He paused for a moment, adjusting her slightly in his arms, and then grinned in surprised pride. He couldn't quite believe that had worked.

Jemma nuzzled into his neck and hugged him tighter, still not awake. Leaning down slightly, he kissed her forehead and then walked carefully into her room to put them both to bed.


	26. Fraternization

"Agents Fitz, Simmons," Agent Bulawayo nodded at them each in turn. "Please sit down," he gestured at the chairs in front of his desk.

Jemma frowned in concern at Fitz for the dozenth time since they'd been told to report there first thing that morning. He frowned back, just as confused.

"Agent Bulawayo," Jemma nodded back politely. "Why is it you needed to see us?"

He shuffled some papers on his desk, searching for a file, and looked up once he'd found it. "It's come to my attention," he began, piercing them each with a look, "That the two of you have started a relationship."

Fitz let out a bark of laughter. "Yeah, back at the _Academy_!" he scoffed. "She's been my _best friend_ my entire adult life." Surely this wasn't news to anyone.

Jemma placed a hand on his knee and squeezed in warning. "I don't think that's the kind of relationship he's talking about, Fitz," she said, raising her eyebrows significantly.

"Oh?" Fitz asked, wrinkling his forehead. " _Ohh_ ," he repeated, his brow clearing as he realized what she meant. Right. They were dating now.

"I'm referring to the," Bulawayo cleared his throat, " _Fraternization._ "

Jemma blushed and sat up more primly in her seat. "While frowned upon," she said in her most official voice, "Fraternization isn't actually against any of S.H.I.E.L.D's regulations."

"Yeah," Fitz nodded in firm agreement. "And it's not like it changes things, anyway."

He gulped hard as two pairs of eyes stared at him in disbelief.

"I-I just mean," he looked from Jemma to Bulawayo and back again. "I mean, we're still best friends?" he said weakly, suddenly unsure.

"Of _course_ we are!" Jemma agreed wholeheartedly.

"Yeah, and the sex is great," he continued. " _Really_ great." He grinned and his eyes unfocused slightly. "Bloody _fantastic_ actually..." He still couldn't quite believe that thing she'd done with her tongue this morning and-

"Fitz!" Jemma smacked him lightly on the arm, and when he looked over at her she had a manic sort of smile on her face and her teeth were clenched tight.

"Right," he cleared his throat. "Sorry, I just..." he trailed off in the face of Bulawayo's stare.

"What Agent Fitz _means_ to say," Jemma interrupted, glaring at him before smiling sweetly at the other agent. "Is that our new... status won't affect our work."

"Exactly," Fitz nodded.

Bulawayo looked from one to the other of them before leaning back in his chair and steepling his hands under his chin. "It's not the _current_ situation S.H.I.E.L.D. is concerned about," he sighed. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before looking at them again and continuing. "We're worried about what happens when the current situation... _changes_."

Fitz swallowed hard, not looking at Jemma. "Well, that's just..." his cheek twitched slightly. "I mean, it's only been _three days_ , we..." He ducked his head and ran a hand up the back of his neck and through his hair. "S'a bit early to think about that, don't you think?" He was trying desperately not to blush and failing miserably.

"And why is S.H.I.E.L.D. worried about what happens when we break up, anyway?" Jemma asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "We're _professionals._ "

Fitz's head whipped around and he stared at her. _Break up_? He'd thought the change they were talking about was-

"You say that _now_ , Agent Simmons," Bulawayo said with the sort of world-weary sigh that indicated he'd heard it before. "But you're two of the brightest minds here at SciOps, and the work you do together is nothing short of _revolutionary._ " He spread his hands wide in a gesture of helplessness. "We don't want you to risk that for-"

"What if we _don't_ break up?" Fitz asked in a surprisingly steady voice. His heart was thrumming double time in his chest, and he could feel the adrenaline running through him. Once more he very carefully avoided looking at Jemma.

Bulawayo gave him a measuring look before slowly nodding his head. "That _is_ a possibility, yes," he acknowledged.

"Well then, this meeting was completely pointless," Fitz said with a certain amount of bravado. He stood up from his seat and held his hand out to Jemma. "Agent Simmons?" he asked, still not quite able to look at her. "Shall we get back to our _revolutionary_ work?"

There was a ringing in his ears that blocked out her reply, but they ended up back in the hallway so she must have agreed.

\---------------------

"Penny?" Jemma said as she closed her apartment door. 

"Hmm?" Fitz asked, looking up from where he'd been staring at the floor. He'd been doing it all day. Between that an how quiet he'd been, she was starting to worry.

"For your thoughts," she said, offering him an understanding smile as she took off her shoes and placed them in their spot on the hallway shelf.

He shrugged and smiled tightly back at her. "Just... stuff," he said vaguely, toeing off his shoes and nudging them into place against the wall.

"Agent Bulawayo was just doing his job," Jemma said dismissively, wrapping Fitz up in a hug. "Don't even think about it." Standing up on her tiptoes, she kissed his cheek.

Fitz nodded, still somewhat glum. "I know, it's just..."

Jemma nodded back. "I know, but..."

"Yeah."

"Yeah."

Fitz blew out a breath and flashed her a wry grin. "Don't think about it?" he asked.

She grinned back. "It's just borrowing trouble," she confirmed. Grabbing his tie, she pulled him down for a quick kiss. She was just considering turning it into a not-so-quick kiss when Fitz's stomach gurgled loudly. They broke apart, laughing.

"Oops?" Fitz apologized, looking adorably abashed.

Jemma pressed her lips briefly against his one last time. "Dinner first, then sex," she said, listing off priorities and counting them with her fingers. "Sound good?" she asked over her shoulder as she turned into her kitchen.

"Food _and_ sex?" Fitz asked, face lighting up. "You always know just what to say to cheer me up." He wrapped her in a hug from behind and nuzzled her neck.

"Ooh," Jemma cooed. "Chapter 12? Really?" She threw him an arch look and opened the fridge.

Fitz stared at her, speechless.

Jemma opened up a jar of jam and dipped a finger in it. "Mmm," she moaned theatrically as she sucked her finger clean. "Yummy," she winked.

Fitz gulped hard, staring at her in that way that made her tingle all over. Apparently she'd stumbled onto something else he was interested in trying.

"Looks like we've sorted out dessert," she teased, putting the jam back in the fridge. "Now, dinner..." she bent over double to look in the refrigerator again, arching her back and pushing her bottom up.

Fitz finally unfroze, moving to stand behind her. With his hands on her hips, he pulled her back into him. "Don't toy with me," he begged. "It's not nice to play with a man's emotions like that."

Jemma wiggled against the hardness she could feel starting in his pants, enjoying the soft moan it elicited. "Oh! I know _just_ what to have for dinner," she said happily, standing up and turning to press her body fully against him. 

"Mmm," Fitz sighed, nibbling her neck. "You?" he asked as he cupped her ass.

Jemma shivered slightly and tried hard to keep the smile off her face. "Actually, considering this heat wave, I was thinking of something you can have cold."

Fitz looked up and glanced over at her freezer. "Yeah?" he asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Mmhmm," Jemma nodded, nuzzling his ear.

"What's that?" Fitz asked, a slight tremor in his voice as he pressed his growing erection against her.

"Revenge," Jemma whispered in his ear.

Fitz whimpered as she stepped away from him and started opening cupboards and taking out ingredients.

"It's not nice to play with a woman's emotions, either," Jemma reminded him.

"I'm going to be regretting that move for a long time, aren't I?" Fitz asked, rubbing a hand down his face with an expression of regret.

"You really, _really_ are," Jemma confirmed, kissing his cheek and pushing him out of the kitchen. "Now go do some laundry while I get dinner started."


	27. Unmentionables

Fitz stood at the washer with a puzzled look on his face. It wasn't that he didn't know how to do his laundry. He'd been doing it just fine (though not always promptly) since his days at MIT. No, what had him confused was doing _Jemma's_ laundry. Suddenly he had to read all of the labels, and half of the things seemed to say "dry clean only" but she had them in her regular hamper? 

He was contemplating the tiny pair of mesh panties she'd been wearing yesterday when Jemma came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. 

"You like?" she asked, kissing his shoulder and squeezing him lightly. He couldn't believe he was actually getting used to that like it weren't the most incredible thing she'd ever done.

Fitz blushed and grinned. "Of  _course_ I like," he answered with a chuckle. "I just don't know how to  _wash_."

"Delicates," Jemma said, grabbing her panties and a couple of bras, "Get washed by hand in the sink."

"Really?" Fitz asked, turning toward her in surprise. "Seems like a lot of effort." Yet another reason to be glad he wasn't a girl. Although having boobs would probably offset that somewhat.

"You're telling me I shouldn't wear things like this then?" she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Noooo," he shook his head firmly. That was the _last_ thing he'd ever say. "Definitely _not_ saying that!"

She leaned up on her toes and kissed him briefly. "Didn't think so."

"In fact," he said, wrapping his arms around her to keep her close, "I'm pretty interested in seeing what you're wearing _today_." And tomorrow. And the next day...

"You saw it this morning," she said, grinning at him and biting her lip. "You know, short term memory loss is a symptom that should be investigated," she continued seriously.

"Trust me, sweetheart," he said, leaning down to give her a kiss. "It's not because I've forgotten." Every image of her he'd ever seen over the last seven years was etched in his mental vault, he was pretty sure. Nothing short of that memory wiper thing from Men in Black could take those memories from his brain.

"It's not?" she asked innocently, kissing him back harder, pulling her arms tight around his neck and pressing her body even closer to his. 

"Mm mm," he shook his head slightly while he deepened their kiss. 

"What is it then?" she asked, breaking their kiss but keeping her lips oh so close to his. 

"It's because you look bloody amazing in those things," he growled, kissing her again and reaching up to the buttons on her blouse.

"I do?" she asked, and he could tell from the expression on her face that she was fishing. He loved when she fished. It gave him a chance to heap on the praise without feeling self-conscious about it. 

"That bra you've got on," he started, tugging at another button, "Is so fucking _sexy_. It makes your tits look even more amazing than usual." He kissed and licked her collar bone, popping another button free. "And your tits always look fucking _incredible_."

Jemma was sighing in his arms now, tugging one hand through his hair and gripping his shoulder with the other one. "Yeah?" she whispered.

"And those panties," he continued, pulling her blouse out from where it was tucked into her jeans. " _Fuck_ , Jemma, those panties." The black mesh of yesterday had left nothing to the imagination, but the satin and lace of today's red ones... "They feel so good, I just want my hands on them all the damn time."

Jemma chuckled and then moaned quietly as he pulled her blouse open and cupped her breasts through the matching red bra. "I think I'd be okay with that," she winked at him. Then she pulled him down for a kiss so long and deep that he actually felt giddy. 

He grinned against her lips and popped the button on her fly. "You would?" he asked, unzipping her jeans. 

"Mmhmm," she nodded against his lips, her eyes closed and her breaths coming quickly. 

He pushed her jeans down over her hips and grabbed tight to her ass causing both of them to moan. 

"Fitz," Jemma sighed, wriggling her legs free.

"Oh  _god_ , Jemma," he groaned back.

He was just about to lift her up to sit on the washer so he could get between her legs, but a buzzer sounded in the kitchen and stopped him in his tracks. 

Jemma sighed with an apologetic look on her face. "Oops?" 

Fitz pressed his forehead against hers and cursed the fact that humans needed to eat in order to survive. "Right," he sighed. 

She gave him one last brief kiss and turned to go back to the kitchen. "Hurry up and start your load," she said. 

He grumbled as he added more darks to the washer. This was  _not_ the kind of load he wanted to be working on right now.


	28. The New Normal

Jemma was thoroughly enjoying herself. 

She sat on her dining room chair with one leg curled under her, wearing nothing more than a smile and some lingerie, and she was chatting with Fitz as if that were completely normal. 

She blinked as she realized this  _could_ be completely normal. 

 _What if we **don't** break_ up?

She jumped slightly as Fitz reached in front of her for the serving dish, interrupting her train of thought. The jerky movement also caused a dollop of sauce to fall onto her breast. Both of them stared at the wet stain on her skin and Jemma felt the tight fluttering in her stomach wind even tighter. Opportunity was knocking, and she was going to open the door wide.

"Oh, will you look at that?" she said in a remarkably even tone of voice. She cupped her breast with one hand, lifting it slightly to better show Fitz the 'problem.'

"I am," he said dryly with a half-smile on his face. She didn't know when that smile had changed from dorky to sexy, but it definitely had. And then some.

She tutted and shook her head. "Isn't that always the way?" she asked rhetorically. "You wear a new outfit and immediately you spill on yourself."

"Outfit?" Fitz choked, covering his cough with his hand as he peered at her from under raised eyebrows. 

Jemma ignored his outburst and made a show of looking around the table. "And of  _course_ I haven't put out any serviettes," she heaved a large sigh in mock exasperation. "Fitz, would you mind...?" Let's see if he'd gotten any better at picking up on her hints.

He pushed his chair back and stood up, "Sure, where do you-?"

Nope. He hadn't.

"...Cleaning this up for me?" she continued. She looked up at him and licked her lips before dragging her gaze back down to her breast, covered in sauce and wrapped in red lace and satin. That one should be clear enough, right?

His half-grin blossomed into Cheshire-like proportions. "Not at all," he said gallantly. He kept eye contact with her as he leaned down, finally breaking it when he opened his mouth to suck her skin clean of the spill. 

Jemma's eyes closed and she arched her back as he moved over the spot a few times with his tongue. A girl could  _definitely_ get used to this. 

"There you go," Fitz said, kissing her breast lightly and then moving to sit back down. "All cleaned up and none the worse for it," he grinned at her.

Oh, so he thought he could play her, did he?

"Thanks for that," she smiled back gratefully. "I'd hate to ruin my new clothes the first time I wear them."

The she reached around behind her back and unhooked her bra. 

"Better safe than sorry, right?" she asked as she took it off and hung it by a strap on the back of her chair. 

Fitz's eyes widened as they focused on her now naked breasts. He gulped loudly and nodded, and she reveled in how dumbfounded he looked. "Right," he agreed hoarsely.

"Now, you were saying about the turbines?" Jemma asked innocently, digging into her dinner once again. If her back were arched more than usual it was only because she didn't want to spill on her panties. At least that's what she'd tell Fitz if he asked. 

Jemma watched him with interest as he stumbled through an explanation of the various solutions he'd tried today and how the simulations kept ending in explosions, but she was only half-listening. The other half of her was leaning ever closer to her plate. 

"Oh!" she said suddenly, jumping back quickly as if startled. This, of course, made her breasts bounce on her chest. 

Fitz didn't seem to mind that at all. He was too easy. She smirked.

"You seem to have, uh," he gestured at the breast she'd dipped rather deliberately into her plate. Considering the fact he'd already had two servings of dinner, he was looking remarkably hungry. That fluttering feeling was less a kaleidoscope of butterflies and more a herd of elephants now.

"I know!" she said, distress all over her face. "I'm just so _clumsy_ today!" She met his eyes and raised a brow.

He raised one in return and smirked back at her. "Aww, don't worry, Jems," he said reassuringly, taking her hand and pulling her from her chair. "I'll take care of that for you."

She sighed and closed her eyes as his hands slid over her ass, squeezing it and pulling her even closer to him. And then he was licking her breast, tonguing her and covering her skin in open-mouthed kisses, and she couldn't help the shiver that ran down her spine. When his mouth closed over her nipple, she gasped and tangled her fingers in his hair. 

God, if  _this_ was the new normal, she was all in favour.

He sucked her nipple slowly, teasing it with his tongue, and then released it with a slight pop. "All done," he said, his voice a bit rough. Then his hands moved from her ass to her hips and he pushed her back toward her chair. 

Jemma pouted at him, but sat back down. 

"Did you," Fitz stopped to clear his throat. "Did you ever figure out the proper catalyst for your oxidation reaction?" he asked, blinking at her in polite interest.

Jemma rolled her jaw and squinted at him in consideration. What they had here was a classic FitzSimmons battle of wills. Both of them wanted the end result of all of this play, but neither one wanted to be the first one to give in. 

Well, if Fitz wanted to play, she'd play. 

With a polite smile of her own, she proceeded to tell him, in detail, about the processes involved in her current experiment. Thankfully, she knew the material backwards and forwards and didn't need to concentrate too much in the retelling. Instead, she could concentrate on swiping her finger across her plate and then licking it clean. Slowly. Delicately. Thoroughly. And then swiping it again and sucking it into her mouth. 

Fitz was trying his hardest not to react, but she gloated internally every time his jaw clenched or his eyes moved over her almost-naked body. There was no way he was winning. 

Suddenly, Fitz stood up. "Let me clear this up for you," he said in an overly efficient tone. "You keep talking, I'm listening." He picked up their plates and brought them into the kitchen. 

Jemma frowned and squinted again. What was his play? She turned sideways in her chair, spreading her legs under the guise of twisting to talk to him, and continued to discuss her project while she tried to figure out what he was planning. 

He came back out and grabbed the serving dish, but as he turned to go past her the spoon fell off of the plate and onto her thigh before continuing onto the floor. 

"Sorry!" he said hastily, kneeling down to pick up the spoon. "And now _I've_  spilled on you," he observed, pursing his lips together in a way that Jemma recognized as hiding a triumphant grin. So _that_ was his move. 

"Oh no," she gasped in mock horror. "And so close to my new panties, too," she said, trailing a hand along her other thigh until it covered the front of her mound. She pressed against herself lightly and let out a throaty sigh. 

Fitz gulped as he watched her touch herself through her panties, and she felt a triumphant grin try to steal across her face as well. She had him.

"Let me get that for you," Fitz whispered, leaning forward and kissing her calf. He ran a hand along the outside of each of her thighs from her hips to her knees and pulled them further apart. Then, slowly, he kissed his way upward, nuzzling her skin and tickling it with his stubble as he went. 

Jemma bit her lip and groaned, her head falling backwards. _Damn_ but he was good at that. 

His tongue traced hot trails across her skin as he licked her clean, and Jemma was having a hard time thinking now. All her brain wanted to concentrate on was how very close his tongue was to where she loved it to be. She shifted down her seat and lifted her other leg over his shoulder, using her foot to draw him in nearer. 

Sod it, he could win this round. 

"Fi-"

"Jem-"

Or maybe it'd be a tie. 


	29. Dinner, Dishes, Bed

Fitz stared up at the bottom of Jemma's dining room table, breathing hard and smiling. They really were _very_ good at that.

"Best. Dinner. _Ever_ ," he proclaimed, curling his arm a bit tighter around his girlfriend and squeezing her against his side. 

Jemma laughed and stroked a hand across his chest. "Somehow, I don't think you're talking about my cooking," she said archly.

He nuzzled her ear and kissed her forehead. "Oh, that was delicious _too_ ," he assured her. "But _you_ taste just incre--"

He was interrupted when Jemma shifted upwards and kissed him. He could taste himself on her lips, and he was sure she could taste herself on his, but that didn't stop either of them from opening their mouths to kiss even deeper.

Jemma slipped a leg across his hips and then rolled over on top of him.

"You don't taste so horrible, yourself," she whispered against his lips, kissing him one more time.

"I am literally _always_ available for snacks," Fitz whispered back enthusiastically, eyes wide.

Jemma snorted her way into a fit of giggles.

"What?" he asked, grinning up at her. "It's a bit late for me to play hard to get, don't you think?"

Jemma's giggles turned into full-throated laughter.

"I mean," he continued, loving the way her whole face was lit up. "We've just got naked with each other and recreated every 15 year-old-boy's favourite number," he waggled his eyebrows at her. "I think the ship has sort of sailed on me playing coy, don't you?"

Jemma collapsed onto his chest, her whole body shaking with her laughter.

Fitz wrapped his arms around her and held her close, laughing with her and smiling up at the bottom of her dining room table.

\---------------

Jemma smiled down into the sink. She'd always enjoyed washing the dishes as a sort of meditative moment at the end of the day, but now she was enjoying it for a whole new reason.

Fitz's arms were wrapped around her, and he was pressed up against her back. She was wearing his button-up, only two of the buttons actually fastened and the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, and Fitz was wearing his boxers. His hands poked out in front of her, washing the dishes and then handing them to her to dry, and it was just the most ridiculous and wonderful thing she'd ever done. 

She let out a little shriek as he sprayed water on her front, and she flapped her hands in surprise. "Fitz!" she laughed, "You're getting me all wet!"

"Already?" he asked, grinding his hips against her ass. "I mean, I know I'm sexy but, I'm only one man!"

Turning around in his arms, Jemma caught her dish towel around the back of his neck and pulled him down for a kiss. "You're _all_ the man I need," she said an over-the-top throaty voice. "And ooh," she shivered against him, "The way you rinse those plates!" She fluttered her eyelashes outrageously.

Fitz stared at her and swallowed hard. "I know you're being sarcastic right now," he said seriously. "But it's really fucking _sexy_ , just so you know."

"I'll keep that in mind," she winked at him, turning back around. "For future reference."

She grinned again as she felt the hot air of Fitz's sigh on the back of her neck. They'd been together for three amazing days now, and her brain didn't seem to have caught up. Every single time he kissed her, she couldn't believe it was happening, and every time she felt his arms around her, she wondered when she'd wake up.

Fitz cleared his throat as he went about cleaning a dish. "When, uh," he started in his attempting-to-be-casual voice. It never sounded casual. "When do you think that 'future' might be?"

"Well..." Jemma shrugged, taking the bowl from him and drying it before placing it on the counter.

"Yes?" he asked. He never _could_ take a long pause.

"It's _hard_ to say for sure," Jemma waffled, pressing her ass back against him on the word 'hard'. "But probably sometime after we've finished the dishes."

Fitz's hands dove back into the soapy water and suddenly started moving twice as quickly as they had been before.

Jemma grinned down into the sink. He was just too easy.

\----------------

Fitz watched as Jemma set her alarm clock.

"Why in God's name are you setting it for that early?" he asked, lifting the sheets on his side of the bed and crawling in next to her.

"Morning sex," she said, looking at him as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Thinking over the last few days, he had to admit she had a point.

He looked from her to the alarm clock and thought for a moment.

"Better make it a half hour earlier," he suggested.

Just in case.


	30. Morning People

Fitz woke up with a smile on his face. Curling further into his pillow, he stretched his legs even further out of the covers and inhaled the scent of Jemma's hair from the cotton. He reached one arm out to pull her in against him, but instead of the soft, warm body he'd been sleeping next to all night, his hand connected with rapidly cooling sheets.

 _How_ did the bloody woman get up so Christ-loving _early_?

He looked over at her alarm clock and realized he'd woken up early as well. It really was amazing what he'd do for ~~sex with~~ Jemma.

Rolling over from his side to his back, Fitz stared up at the ceiling and remembered how he'd been staring up at something much more interesting last night.

With their plan to wake up early (" _Morning sex increases your body's production of immunoglobulin A which increases your immunity to disease. It also improves circulation and lowers blood pressure by increasing your heart rate._ "), they'd intended to go to bed early as well. But that plan had only lasted for ten minutes of spooning.

That's when Jemma's regular breathing had hitched in her throat and she'd started rubbing her ass back and forth against his hips.

"Fitz?" she'd whispered, threading her fingers through his where they rested on her belly.

"Yes?" he'd whispered back, eyes closed as he reveled in the feeling of his cock hardening against her backside.

"I was wondering," she'd continued, sliding their joined hands up under her tanktop. When they'd reached her breast, she'd squeezed his hand until he started massaging her there.

"Yes?" he'd prompted again, grinding against her. He'd moved her hair off of her neck with his other hand so that he could kiss her sensitive skin.

She had sighed happily and arched her back, pressing her breast deeper into his hand and making his cock delve further between her cheeks. 

"What did you think of Chapter 24?" she'd asked, and even in the darkness of her room, he'd imagined he could see her blush.

He'd breathed in sharply, not entirely sure what to say. Instead, he'd wrapped his free hand around her hip and pulled her back against his sudden thrust.

Jemma'd gasped at that, panting out a few shallow breaths as Fitz continued to tease her nipple.

"Are you sure you want to try," Fitz had paused, hesitating. " _That_?" His hips had been almost out of his control, rolling fast and strong against her. The softness of her ass against he hardness of his cock, even through their underwear, making them both moan.

Jemma had rolled over then, pressing them together, chest to chest, and she'd sought out his eyes in the darkness. "Only if _you_ want to, as well," she'd said, leaning in to kiss him softly. "I know I said it was your punishment or whatever, but I think I've tortured you enough for teasing me like that." She'd smiled at him, and it was the same smile she used when she bumped into him in the lab or took the last tea bag or they didn't have those little cinnamon buns at the coffee shop.

He'd kissed her back, rolling them over and pulling her on top of him. "I know," he'd said back, and he gave her the smile that told her she didn't need to apologize at all. "And if _you_ want to try it, then I'm certainly game to give it a shot, as well."

She'd reached down then and pulled her tank top off, and he'd stared up at her in shock.

"Oh!" she'd gasped and then chuckled lightly. "I meant in _general_ , not just _now_ ," she clarified, tossing her top on her floor and wiggling out of her shorts.

Fitz's breath had returned at that, and he was able to laugh at himself with her. "Sorry, I just..." he'd waved at her nudity. "Y'know," he'd shrugged.

Jemma'd reached down then and pulled down the waistband of his boxers. His cock had popped out, completely ready to perform. "Perfectly reasonable mistake to make," she'd smiled as he'd handed her a condom. "Considering." She'd made quick work of sliding it on him, and then she'd risen up slightly and guided him inside.

Fitz smiled up at the ceiling of Jemma's bedroom, remembering the way she'd looked as she rode his cock. Sighing happily, he threw off the covers to go track down his girlfriend.

\------------------

Jemma hummed happily to herself as she brushed her teeth. She'd managed to not only wake up before Fitz but also get out of bed without disturbing him. She'd always thought he was a fairly sound sleeper, but it seemed that any time she wiggled out of his embrace, he woke up to protest.

It was as adorable as it was frustrating. She really wasn't much of a cuddler.

But then, she just couldn't resist him when he pouted like that.

She laughed at her own reflection and then rinsed and spit into the sink. She'd managed to brush her teeth and put in her diaphragm already, and she might even have time to shave her legs before they got completely distracted by each other. She was just turning to the door to check and make sure he was still asleep when Fitz knocked on it.

"Safe to come in?" he asked.

"Completely," she smiled. This sharing the bathroom business was new. They'd showered together, of course, more than once but they'd so far kept their getting ready routines separated.

Fitz grinned at her as he slipped into her bathroom. "I'm not quite ready to see _that_ ," he looked at her toilet, "Just yet."

Jemma laughed and swatted his arm. As comfortable as they were with each other, they were both standing in her bathroom naked for instance, she wondered if they'd ever be _that_ comfortable. "That's definitely best saved for the _second_ week of dating," she winked.

Fitz moved in to kiss her, but she frowned and backed away. No amount of cuteness could make up for that morning breath.

"Brush first?" he asked, puppy dog expression firmly in place.

"Definitely," Jemma replied firmly, moving to leave the room and give him some privacy.

"Hey," Fitz caught her around the waist and pulled her into a hug. "Where do you think _you're_ going, young lady?"

"I don't need to see _you_ use the toilet any more than you want to see _me_ ," she explained, one perfect eyebrow arching upwards.

"Who's peeing?" Fitz asked innocently. Turning around, he shifted his grip on her waist and lifted her onto the bathroom counter. "I'm brushing my teeth."

"And that's just _fascinating_ to watch then, is it?" Jemma teased. She grinned as he carefully squeezed out a pea-sized dollop of toothpaste onto his brush and then carefully recapped the tube and replaced it in his toiletries bag. He was just so _precise_ about things. It really _was_ strangely fascinating to watch him because suddenly she was picking out all of the little details in a totally mundane task, just because he paid such close attention to them. She was surprised to find herself staring as he moved his brush around his mouth. 

Fitz frowned at her when he noticed. "Wha?" he asked around a mouthful of toothpaste. Pulling his brush out, he leaned over to spit into the sink. Standing back up, he swiped the back of his hand across his mouth to wipe off the excess.

Jemma shook her head and laughed at herself. "Apparently, you can even make _brushing your teeth_ interesting," she said, giving him her best smile.

Fitz flashed a brilliant grin back at her and leaned in to kiss her. He paused an inch from her face. "Am I acceptable yet?" he asked impishly.

"Shut it and kiss me," she laughed back, rolling her eyes.

And then he was kissing her, and her laughter was swallowed by a moan. Her hands moved up from his shoulders along his neck and then into his hair. His hands moved from her knees along her thighs, parting them as he stepped in between.

Jemma breathed deep and kissed him even deeper. She loved the feel of his silky curls under her fingers, the width of his waist between her thighs, the soft pressure of his lips against hers, the cool fire of the mint as they breathed in and out.

"I've put my diaphragm in," she whispered between kisses. She could hardly wait until that wasn't necessary anymore.

"So we don't need...?" he asked, his voice sounding a bit rough around the edges.

She shook her head at the same time that he pulled her to the edge of the counter. "Put it in me," she sighed, her head falling back as he trailed his kisses down her neck.

And then he was pushing his cock inside of her, and she couldn't imagine starting her day another way.


	31. Just Another Day at the Office

Jemma squeezed her thighs together and refocused on the computer in front of her. Despite what agent Bulawayo might think, she was a consummate professional, and she wasn't going to let something as irrelevant as _incredibly good morning sex_ with her boyfriend distract her from her work duties.

"Earth to Jemma," Lisa said, waving a hand in front of her face.

"Hmm?" Jemma looked at her friend and colleague with a politely interested face. "I'm sorry?"

"I _said_ , 'Are you done with those samples yet?' ...or were you too busy staring at the hottie across the lab?" she raised her eyebrows and smirked, nodding in Fitz's direction.

"What are you-?" Jemma pursed her lips together as she felt herself start to blush. "I wasn't-" She was feeling distinctly flustered and didn't like it one bit. "I was _thinking_ , thank you very much!" she finished, drawing herself up to her full height indignantly.

" _Yeah_ ," Lisa snorted. "Thinking about Fitz's-"

"Stop!" Jemma gasped, scandalized. She shifted her eyes left and right nervously and lowered her voice. "Not in the lab!"

"Well, I'm glad _you_ made that rule because I was going to say, from a hygiene standpoint _alone_ -"

"Lisa!" Jemma gasped again, then laughing when she saw her friend's mischievous grin.

Lisa nodded and winked, tapping a finger to the side of her nose and then pointing it at Jemma. "I've got your back," she said conspiratorially. "If the two of you ever need to sneak off to a broom closet or something."

"I'll keep that in mind," Jemma said dryly, shaking her head with a chuckle.

"I'm just saying," Lisa said, raising her hands defensively. "With how hot you two were for each other before you got together, I'm surprised you didn't just book off all the vacation time you have left and-"

" _Yes_ , I _am_ finished with those samples," Jemma said pointedly, jumping off her lab stool and grabbing the tray of test tubes. "Here they are right here," she said, shoving them toward Lisa. "The samples of which we were speaking," she smiled awkwardly.

"What are you-?" Lisa asked, frowning at her like she was crazy.

"Was there something _you_ needed, Agent Hill?" Jemma asked the woman standing behind Lisa. She died a little bit inside at the sound of how high her voice was.

"Oh," Lisa mouthed, eyes wide and brows practically in her hairline. "Sorry," she mouthed with a grimace. "Thank you, Agent Simmons," she said formally with a nod, then she turned stiffly and walked past Agent Hill back to her own station. As soon as she'd passed her, she turned back to Jemma and mouthed, "Oh my god!"

Agent Hill maintained a perfect poker face and handed her a file. "I need your take on this for my afternoon briefing. It's high priority." She raised one perfect eyebrow, managing in that one tiny movement to make it clear she knew exactly what they'd been discussing when she had walked up, and that it wasn't samples.

"Right away, Agent Hill," Jemma said with a brisk enthusiasm.

* * *

Fitz had a spring in his step as he made his way over to Jemma's station to see if she was ready to take lunch. When he was still halfway across the lab, he could already tell that she was stressed. She was rolling her head back and forth on her shoulders and shaking out her arms in the way she got when she was feeling tense, and it looked like she was talking to herself.

"...applied phlebotinum," she was muttering to herself when he got close enough to hear. "Within the space of Minovsky physics, which means..." She looked up as he entered her field of vision and offered him her brightest smile. "Fitz," she said, and he would never get tired of hearing her say it with that added little inflection of pleasure. "I'm just finishing up this report for Agent Hill. Ten minutes?"

"Need any help?" Fitz asked, pulling up the stool next to hers and resting his chin on his hand to watch her. "I'm pretty good with Minovsky physics," he grinned.

Jemma laughed and shook her head. "Maybe when I get to the bit about Schematicization," she offered, turning back to her keyboard and tapping away.

Fitz pulled his tablet out of his messenger back and pretended to work while she finished what she was doing. Instead, he enjoyed the frown of concentration marring her forehead and the way she squinted when she was looking for the right phrasing. He wondered if she knew that she only ever hit the shift key with her right pinky and never her left. Or that she stroked the space bar with her thumb after every depression of the key. So much so that the factory coating had worn off slightly from its matte finish to a shine.

He was just calculating the angle she rested her wrists at on her desk when she turned to him with a barely-contained smile. "You're really not subtle," she said, grabbing her bag from her drawer. "You know that, don't you?"

"What?" Fitz asked, one hand pressed into his chest in shock. "Me?" He placed a hand at the small of her back to guide her toward the door ahead of him. "I'm the epitome of subtlety," he said grandiosely. "If I weren't such a bloody good engineer, they'd have recruited me into Ops!"

Jemma snorted so loudly two people turned in their seats. "Sorry," she apologized merrily. "Just aspirating my disbelief."

"Aw, c'mon," Fitz protested. "Did you have to-?"

The door closed behind them, but the sounds of their happy bickering continued down the hall.

* * *

As they exited the air conditioning of the S.H.I.E.L.D. labs and entered the sweltering heat of the street, Jemma's eyes lit up with an idea. "This way," she said, tugging on Fitz's hand and dragging him in the opposite direction of his favourite pizza place. 

"Where are we-"

"Remember the other day in your apartment?" Jemma asked, turning to him with a frankly naughty expression on her face.

Fitz's brows rose up and his eyes widened as his smile came close to splitting his skull. "Pretty sure I'll never forget," he said, pulling back on her hand to bring her into his arms so he could kiss her.

Shifting his grip on her hand, he threaded his fingers between hers while he raised his other hand to stroke her cheek. Her eyes closed as their lips met, and he kept his open just a moment longer, fascinated by the way her lashes brushed her skin. Then her lips were opening against his and he couldn't do anything as complicated as keep his eyes open when she did that. Her tongue slid gently across his lower lip and her free hand pressed against his chest, just over his heart. Tilting his head a bit further, he deepened their kiss, mewling when she pulled away.

"I want to go _there_ for lunch," Jemma panted, pointing across the intersection at a building that didn't have a restaurant as far as he knew.

Fitz frowned in confusion as he read the sign. "The Charleston Ho-"

"Hotel, yes," Jemma nodded, tugging on his hand again. "Time for that nooner you suggested."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> all science babble courtesy of TVtropes.com (each one is another type of science-y trope)


	32. Nooner

Even as he watched her check them in at the front desk, Fitz still couldn't believe that they were... They were _going to_... They were here because they were... He accidentally met the desk clerk's eyes and blushed bright red at the knowing look on the other man's face.

"Need any help with your luggage, ma'am?" he asked, neither his face nor his voice betraying the smirk that was lurking behind his eyes.

"Oh, we haven't any luggage," Jemma said breezily as she signed the credit card receipt. She smiled up at the clerk as she placed the pen firmly back on the counter. "We're just here for lunch." She squinted down at the name tag on his hotel uniform and added, "Kyle."

Kyle's eyes widened slightly. Obviously, he wasn't used to people being as open about their activities as Jemma was being. He swallowed and then placed his customer service smile back on his face. "Would you care for a room service menu?" he asked, offering her a colourful pamphlet.

"Oh, excellent," Jemma said happily. "We'll definitely be hungry after, won't we Fitz?"

Fitz blinked and nodded his head helplessly. This time when he met Kyle's eyes, there was a hint of admiration there, as if the desk clerk were reassessing him. Fitz found himself mildly irked.

"Definitely," he said with certainty. Then, he wrapped his arm around Jemma and pulled her close. "Which way are the lifts?" he asked.

"Just over there to your left, sir," Kyle said, gesturing.

"Hurry up, Fitz," Jemma said, grabbing his hand and pulling him after her toward them.

* * *

Jemma couldn't stop smiling as they kissed their way down the corridor to their room. She'd never made out in an elevator before, but it certainly had a lot to recommend it. First, there were the hand rails which had made for excellent support when she'd wrapped her legs around Fitz's waist. Add to that the mirrors everywhere, and she was rather disappointed that their room was only on the 10th floor. Next time, she'd have to specify the penthouse.

When they finally got to the room, she pressed her back against the door and pulled Fitz down for another kiss while he tried to fit the keycard into its slot.

"Damnit," Fitz cursed, lifting his lips from hers as he failed for the third time to get the door open. "Jemma," he begged plaintively, resting his forehead against hers and giving her the puppy dog eyes.

"Oh, Fitz," she smiled at him, patting his cheek patronizingly. "Let me," she slid the card out of his hand and turned in his arms until her ass was pressed against his hardon. Her eyes sparkled when she heard him groan, and she pulled her lower lip between her teeth when he pulled her hips back against him.

The door beeped and clicked open on her first try and she gave Fitz a triumphant grin over her shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah," Fitz sighed in defeat. "You're smarter than me," he admitted. "We both know that already, so stop wasting time and get in there!" He kissed her briefly and then grabbed a handful of her ass and pushed her into the room in front of him.

Jemma felt another thrill run through her, and her already excited libido ramped up even higher. Grabbing the front of Fitz's shirt, she kissed him hard and fast and then pushed him down onto the bed. She danced out of the way when he tried to pull her down to join him, however, and instead threw the room service pamphlet onto his chest.

"Call down and get us some lunch," she told him as she stepped into the bathroom. "And then take all your clothes off." She winked at him and then closed the door.

* * *

Fitz lay on on his back on the bed, totally naked with his cock standing hard and ready. He'd decided that nudity was more important than lunch and had disrobed before calling down for room service, and now he was eagerly awaiting the return of his incredibly sexy girlfriend.

"Jemma?" he called, reaching down to give his cock a quick tug while he waited.

"One second," she replied. And then the door opened and she came out, beautifully nude.

"Shit you're gorgeous," Fitz moaned, stroking his cock a bit harder. He hoped he never got used to seeing her like this.

"And you look good enough to eat," she grinned back from the end of the bed, licking her lips. "How long have we got before the food arrives?" she asked as she put one knee on the bed and then leaned forward to catch her weight on her hands.

"Twenty to thirty minutes," Fitz answered. His breath stuttered in his chest as she brought her other knee up onto the bed and started crawling up towards him, hovering over his legs as she made her way up the bed. His eyes closed and he sucked in a quick gasp when she reached his cock and swirled her tongue around the tip. " _Fuck_ , yes," he moaned. His hand hadn't yet stopped moving as he wanked himself in front of her.

Jemma's eyes flicked to the clock radio on the bedside table. "Plenty of time," she said. And then she moved his hand out of the way and sucked the head of his hard cock into her mouth.

"Oh god," Fitz moaned, hands sliding into her silky brown hair. He really wanted to pull her down on him completely, but if they only had twenty minutes, they didn't have time for him to shoot off in her mouth first. "Oh fuck, sweetheart," he panted, his stomach muscles tightening as she moved down, taking two more inches into her mouth. As he stared down at where Jemma was bobbing up and down on his hard shaft, it was all he could do to gather up his willpower and pull her off him.

* * *

Jemma let Fitz's cock fall out of her mouth with a slight popping sound. "What-?" she started to ask him, but he was already dragging her up his body to kiss him again. "Mmm," she sighed happily as he rolled her onto her back. Her arms wrapped around his neck as one of his hands started to play with her breast and the other skimmed down over her ribs and hip and thigh until it moved between her legs. "Oh yes," she gasped with a smile as he started kissing her neck while his busy fingers slipped and slid their way along her pussy.

"You're so wet," he whispered in her ear before tugging her earlobe with his teeth.

"I've been thinking about this since this morning," Jemma admitted, spreading her legs wider and thrusting her hips up to encourage him.

Fitz took the hint and pushed two fingers inside her, pumping her slowly with them while getting his thumb nice and wet. "This?" he asked, leaning down to capture a nipple in his mouth at the same time he started to rub his thumb along her clit.

"Ohhhh yesss," Jemma moaned, fucking her hips against his hand. "Oh god, _Fitz_ ," she gasped, trembling as a small orgasm rushed through her. Her hands clutched his back as she caught her breath, and then she was pulling his fingers out of her and lifting her legs wide on either side of him. "Fuck me?" she asked him quietly, blushing at her own brazenness.

Fitz's head immediately rose from where he'd been giving her other breast the same treatment he'd given the first, and he stared at her with such intensity that she shivered again. "Say it again?" he whispered hoarsely, pushing himself up on his knees.

Jemma licked her lips and let her gaze move slowly from his face down his chest to his hard, throbbing cock standing proud and hovering above her pussy. Hooking a hand behind each of her knees, she pulled her legs up to her chest and said, a bit more confidently this time, "Fuck me, Fitz."

* * *

Just when he thought Jemma couldn't get any sexier, she always managed to surprise him.

Grabbing an ankle with each hand, Fitz leaned forward and teased her entrance with the head of his dick. "Again," he insisted, staring into her eyes. Every muscle in his body was clenched tight with the tension of holding himself back, but he couldn't get over how hot it was to hear her ask him to fuck her and he wanted to hear it again.

" _Please_ fuck me, Fitz?" Jemma asked, and there was no resisting her now.

Fitz sank his cock fully into her wet pussy with one long, swift movement. They both moaned loudly at the feeling, and then Jemma’s hands were scratching and clutching at his back as his ass muscles tightened with each forceful thrust.

"Fuck _yes_ , Jemma," he groaned as their hips met in a hard and fast rhythm. Her pussy was squeezing around him on every downstroke, and he could only hope she was as turned on as he was because there was no way he was going to last long at this rate.

Jemma dragged one hand up his back and into his hair and pulled him down for a kiss, his lips muffling the moans and whimpers she was releasing every time he bottomed out. He kissed her deeply, sucking on her tongue as she pierced his lips with it. She seemed to be trying to taste him, to eat him in her lust.

He could feel himself starting to crest the wave and he realized they'd forgotten something in their haste.

"Oh shit, Jemma," he cursed, trying to pull himself out of her. "I forgot the condom!"

Jemma wrapped her legs tighter around him and pulled him even deeper into her. "Diaphragm," she panted, shaking her head. "It's fine."

"Thank god," he moaned, shuddering slightly as he tried to keep himself from cumming. Lifting himself up to support himself on his elbow, he moved his other hand down to rub her clit as he continued to thrust into her, hard and deep.

* * *

Jemma stopped breathing for a second just before she started to cum again, and then she panted and moaned and whimpered her way through another orgasm as she felt him follow her over the crest.

"Oh, Fitz," she panted into his ear as he buried his face in the crook on her neck.

He moaned in response, but wasn't able to say anything coherent, and she smiled in victory at that. She kept squeezing him inside of her as she felt him begin to soften, and each squeeze made him shudder in her arms.

Finally, he managed to raise his head and give her a lopsided grin. "Best. Lunch. Ever," he panted.

"You can say that again," she agreed, pulling him down for a kiss. When she released him, she could see what was about to happen. "But don't," she quickly amended.

"Spoilsport," Fitz teased, rolling his hips against her because he wasn't ready to withdraw.

"Aw," Jemma said not at all sympathetically. "You know you love it," she grinned.

She might have been imagining things, but it almost seemed like his face softened when she said that. He was just opening his mouth to say something when he was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Room service."


	33. The First Few Pages

Fitz tried to adjust himself subtly at his desk but gave it up as a lost cause almost immediately. Shuffling down the hall to the toilets, he entered a stall and peeled down his jeans to stare at his problem. His cock was half-hard and filling out the shiny red pants he'd put on. Overfilling, really. The scant material was not near enough to cover his shaft and balls.

How did Jemma wear these things and not get horny?

The soft satin of her panties kept rubbing against the skin of his cock with every shift and movement, and he couldn't keep himself from getting aroused. Between that and the thought that _him_ wearing them meant that Jemma _wasn't_...

He groaned softly and closed his eyes, remembering her shimmying her hips as she pulled her skirt on over her naked legs and the devilish look on her face when she'd picked up her panties from the floor and held them out to him. He'd been entranced enough at the rare sight of her in a skirt to begin with, but knowing that she was naked underneath it...

He wondered suddenly if she'd consider not wearing a bra.

And now his problem was even bigger than it had been when he'd walked in here. Literally. What in the world had happened to him? Last week, he _never_ would have considered wanking in the toilets at work and now? Now, he was dangerously close to pulling Jemma's red satin knickers down his thighs and taking himself in hand, workplace or no.

This was only the first two pages. How in the _world_ was he going to make it through the rest of _Chapter 24_?

* * *

Jemma walked self-consciously back to her desk.

When she'd made the spontaneous decision to give Fitz her panties to wear, it had been a devilish idea that she'd been unable to resist. He was so entranced by her lingerie, she couldn't silence the little voice in the back of her mind that suggested he might like them even better _on_. It was the same voice that had whispered to her to reenact the shower scene from _Chemistry_. The same one that urged her to masturbate while Fitz watched and to eat dinner with him wearing just her bra and panties.

Generally speaking, it had been a deliciously wonderful voice to pay attention to.

Until now.

Jemma pressed her thighs together as she stood at the lab bench, and she wondered if anyone could tell that she was naked under her skirt. She desperately hoped not. She also hoped that her frequent trips to the washroom weren't being noted.

She'd given herself a quick rinse with the detachable shower head in the hotel bathroom, but she was still feeling more than a little bit paranoid that she might... drip. It was ridiculous, she knew, and yet.

Next time, they'd really have to use a condom instead of her diaphragm. Then she wouldn't have to worry so much.

* * *

Fitz managed to focus during his late afternoon meeting. It wasn't through any particular internal strength of character or will. No. It was through sheer, unadulterated terror.

Nick Fury had already caught him daydreaming _once_. He wasn't about to let that happen again.

Add in the fact that the many and varied rumours about his missing eye included one in which the patch covered a robot eye capable of what was commonly termed "X-ray vision" and Fitz had more than enough _external_ motivation for keeping his mind on task.

Still, it could be worse.

He was in a meeting with Fury and a dozen other agents. Jemma was in a one-on-one sit down with Agent Hill.

* * *

"... and we need to know the precise _duration_ as well," Hill added to the list of effects Jemma had to investigate.

Jemma's mind sped through a dozen or more variables that would need tracking during such an experiment, and she frown in concentration as she scribbled some more notes into the margin of her report.

"Right," Jemma nodded seriously. "Who can I bring in on this?" Most of the experiments she worked on were classified in some way or another, so this was a standard question in this sort of discussion.

"Actually," Agent Hill said, " _You're_ the one being brought in. Dr. Streiten requested you, specifically."

"Really?" Jemma preened, blushing at the compliment. Dr. Streiten was one of the top medical professionals in all of S.H.I.E.L.D. This drug must be important indeed.

"You'll be reporting to his lab as of Monday," Hill said, closing up the file folders and clearly getting ready to end the meeting.

"I'll be sure to let Agent Fitz know," Jemma said, standing up when the senior agent did so.

Hill looked up from where she was putting her files into her briefcase. " _Just_ you," she said, her face giving nothing away.

Jemma opened her mouth to protest. Had Agent Bulawayo arranged this somehow? Were they displeased with her work? She'd thought she was being rewarded, not punished!

"That'll be all, Agent Simmons," Hill said, dismissing her.


	34. Bookmarked

"Ready to go?" Fitz asked as she made her way back to her desk.

Jemma nodded with a stiff smile and bent down further than necessary to get her bag so that she could hide her rapidly blinking eyes. As if it weren't bad enough that she wouldn't be working with Fitz anymore, she couldn't even _tell_ him because he didn't have clearance to know.

"Careful there," Fitz cautioned, moving quickly to stand behind her and steady her with his hands on her hips. He cleared his throat and looked shiftily from one side to the other. Then, he leaned over to whisper so that only she would hear. "You've not got your pants on, remember?"

"Oh!" Jemma blushed, straightening up immediately. "I forgot!" She pressed  her hands to the side of her neck in embarrassment.

"Forgot?" Fitz laughed and shook his head. "Must have been one _hell_ of a meeting," he winked.

"Yes," she smiled distractedly. "Quite."

He frowned at the look on her face. "Everything alright?"

She smoothed out her forehead and forced herself to smile more naturally. She wasn't lying to him, after all. And Fitz understood the nature of classified work as well as anyone. This wasn't the first time one of them had been unable to talk about a project. "Fine," she said, standing on her toes to kiss his cheek. She even believed it. "Dinner?" she suggested as she threaded her fingers through his for the walk to the elevator.

"Can we just get a takeaway?" he requested as he pressed the button to go down. "I find I'm quite eager to get home and get fed for some reason."

Jemma returned his wicked grin and then looked down at where he had strategically placed his messenger back in front of his body. "You don't say?" she observed mildly.

"Mmhmm."

* * *

Fitz wiggled his tongue again and then sucked Jemma's swollen clit between his lips as he stared up at her moaning above him.

Her thighs were straddling his face and her belly was undulating with each moaning breath as she rode his tongue. He watched her squeeze her breasts and tug on her nipples, her head lolling from side to side, and he gripped her ass in his hands and pulled her even closer down on his mouth.

Sliding his tongue down along her slit, he used his grip to pull her forward, and then he pushed his tongue inside her as deep as he could. Her cries were muffled by her thighs over his ears, but he could hear his name in amongst the other murmurs and it spurned him on to more enthusiastic efforts.

Fucking his tongue in and out of her pussy as quickly as he could, he brought one of his hands around to the front of her body and started stroking her clit with his thumb.

He watched in fascination as her breathing sped up and listened to her moans increase in pitch. She was so wet now that it was dripping off of his chin. He was practically drinking her. It was glorious.

She leaned forward to support herself with one hand on the headboard, but the other continued to play with her breasts. He was now rubbing two fingers over her clit and alternating his tongue thrusts with sucking kisses of her lips.

Finally, she reached down and tangled her free hand in his hair. With that signal, he moved his wet fingers back around her body and wiggled first one and then the other against the tight rosebud between her cheeks.

She sat up again, this time reaching back to pull her cheeks apart for him, and her new position put her clit right over his lips again. Kissing and sucking it into his mouth, he made love to her clit while pushing one wet finger inside of her ass, and then she was thrashing on top of him and not even her thighs gripping his head could block out the sounds of her screams.

* * *

"I'd say that's a pretty strong endorsement in favour of Chapter 24," Fitz grinned as he leaned over her prone body and kissed her. 

"Definitely better than expected," Jemma agreed languidly. They were lying side by side in her bed now, and while she was half-asleep in her post-orgasmic haze, Fitz was as energetic as a puppy. Reaching down, she slowly stroked his hard cock where it was poking out of the leg hole of her panties. "You look good in red," she observed, looking down at it.

She owed that author an apology. When she'd read that bit in the book, she'd rolled her eyes and skimmed past it, not interested in that particular kind of kink. Now that she was faced with the image in real life, however, she rather appreciated the fact that her panties were too small to cover up Fitz's package, really at all. It just looked so... _lewd_ hanging out in the open like that.

Her hand started stroking faster as she found herself waking up.

Fitz's grin faded from his face as his eyes unfocused and his breathing sped up. He shuddered and closed his eyes when Jemma swiped her thumb across the head of his dick, spreading his precum over the head and then squeezing out more.

"Fuck, Jemma," he moaned. "You keep that up and-"

"And you'll cum?" she asked in a throaty voice that she barely recognized. "Do you want to cum for me, Fitz?" she asked. Then she stopped stroking until he opened his eyes and looked at her.

"More than anything, Jemma," he whispered before kissing her.

They both moaned into the kiss as her hand sped up on his cock.

"I want you inside me, Fitz," she gasped, breaking the kiss just long enough to say the words. Using her grip on his cock, she pulled him until he moved over top of her.

Fitz knelt above her, staring down at her like she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, and rolled a condom down over his cock. She whimpered when she had to take her hand off him, and then again when he lined his cock up against her pussy and pushed inside of her hole.

Then he was kissing her again, thrusting deep and low against her as he pressed his body along hers. She pulled her legs up until her calves bracketed his ribs and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him down even more.

He kept up his leisurely pace for as long as he could, his hips making delicious circles against hers with each thrust. But soon she could feel him increasing his pace. His thrusts came faster and harder and deeper. She moaned against his lips and squeezed her cunt tight around his pounding dick, and then he was spasming inside her. Once. Twice. Three times. Each shudder forcing out a grunt of pleasure from deep in his gut.

He was stationary now as the last few jets came, and then all of his tense muscles relaxed at once.

"Fuck me," he swore softly into her ear, panting hard to try to catch his breath.

"Pretty sure I just did," she laughed back.

"Ha. Ha."  he retorted, lifting his sweaty face from the crook of her neck to look into her eyes. "I don't love you for your clever mouth, you know," he said, sticking his tongue out at her.

"I guess we can skip that part of the chapter then," she said, sticking hers out in return.

Fitz immediately realized his tactical error and his eyes widened as he tried to retreat. "Let's not be hasty now," he said, easing his weight off of her.

Jemma pushed him the rest of the way off and then rolled over to rest her forearms on his chest and her chin on her wrists. "I'll reconsider," she said impishly. "If you give me a complete list of the things you _do_ love about me."

He brushed her hair off her face and looked at her tenderly. "Do you want it alphabetically, or in order of importance?"


	35. Bed and Breakfast

Fitz looked at Jemma's bedside clock and calculated he had about three more minutes of spooning time left before he'd have to detach himself so they could sleep. Tightening his grip around her waist, he pulled her in a bit closer and kissed her shoulder softly.

"So..." he started. He had no idea how to broach the topic really, but he knew he wanted to say _something_ about it, and better today than tomorrow.

"Mmhmm?" Jemma asked sleepily, arching her back against his chest and sighing happily. Her breath was already coming slow and steady, and he knew that she'd been off in dreamland soon.

This week had made him feel like he was there already.

He inhaled a deep breath full of the scent of her shampoo and focused on the way her fingers were tracing lazy patterns on his forearm.

"If things have gone as planned," he said with forced casualness, "My aircon should be fixed by tomorrow."

Jemma's breathing stopped half way through a breath. "Oh?" she said, still frozen in his arms. "Oh yes," she started breathing again. "It's Friday tomorrow, isn't it?" She didn't sound sleepy anymore. She sounded wide awake.

"Mmhmm," Fitz nodded. He leaned up a bit, lifting his head from the pillow, and tried to see her face. She was turned too far toward her own pillow for him to see it, though. Not that he'd have seen much in the dark at any rate.

"Well," she said in a voice that sounded a bit brittle. Or was he just imagining that? "I expect you'll be glad to get back to your own digs."

His own voice was hardly its usual self when he replied, "Not nearly as glad as you'll be to be shot of me, I'm sure." He added a laugh at the end to soften it, but he was pretty sure it was the truth. He'd known Jemma better and longer than he'd known anyone except his mum, and he knew he'd thrown things off kilter for her this week. And not just with their sudden romance, which he felt good about. No, he'd changed all of her schedules and altered all of her habits and routines. He'd taken her ordered, methodical home life and gotten _Fitz_ all over it.

"Right," she agreed with a laugh of her own. And was that a sigh of relief?

"Yeah," he nodded, kissing her shoulder one more time.

They stayed there, curled together in silence, for another long moment and then Fitz glanced at the clock again and sighed.

"Time for sleep," he said with efficient cheerfulness and started to slip away from her.

He was surprised when Jemma pulled his arm back in place.

"Perhaps just a _few_ minutes more," she suggested.

"As long as you'll let me," he whispered back.

* * *

Fitz stumbled blearily into the kitchen where Jemma was busy making breakfast, and it was all she could do not to laugh at his scrunched up face and wild hair. 

"'Morning," she greeted him, rising up on her toes to kiss his cheek. It had a pillow crease on it. Adorable.

"Mmhmm," he grunted through a yawn as he scratched the stubble on his other cheek. "S'that bacon?" he sniffed.

"There's only three slices left after you _demolished_ it at the weekend," Jemma said pointedly. It was a good thing he was going back to his own apartment. At the rate he ate, she'd never keep him properly fed. "But I thought I'd do them up for you with some toast and jam."

"On a Friday morning?" Fitz asked as he spooned sugar into a coffee mug and then poured in the caffeine. "Have I told you lately that you're the best girlfriend ever?" He moved over and kissed the top of her head on his way to get the milk.

"Once or twice," she said dryly. A day, perhaps. "In passing, as it were." Not that she was going to ask him to stop it any time soon.

Fitz took a long sip of his coffee and ahh'd out his satisfaction. Then, he gave her a proper good morning kiss. "It's still true," he reassured her with a squeeze of her bottom.

"Careful with that," Jemma teased him as she covered his hand with hers. "If you get me too distracted, I won't let you eat your breakfast."

God, that wicked smile of his just always took her breath away. How had she survived so many years before she'd ever seen it?

"Is that what we're calling it now?" Fitz asked, sliding his hand further down the curve of her ass so that he could wiggle his fingers against her pussy from below.

Jemma shrieked quietly at the feeling and slapped playfully against his chest. "Stop it now," she warned him. "Or we won't have time for a shower."

Fitz frowned at the clock as he sat down at the plate she'd made him. "We've got more than an hour before we have to leave for work," he said. "I can be in and out of the shower in five minutes, if need be."

Jemma sat down to her plate of fresh fruit and yogurt and tucked delicately into her own breakfast. "Oh, I'm going to need to you spend a _lot_ more time than that," she said. Then she gave him a wicked grin of her own and winked.


	36. Squeaky Clean

Jemma brushed her fingers through her hair at the weekly staff meeting and tried to focus on the review of the refrigerator clean-out policy instead of remembering what she and Fitz had got up to in the shower that morning.

It was a losing battle. 

* * *

She'd always loved the feeling of having her hair shampooed. The gentle massage of fingers on her scalp and the silky way her soapy hair moved around her head always made her happy. But this morning had taken that luxurious experience and made it sensual instead.

Fitz's fingers worked slowly through her hair as they worked the shampoo into a lather. Jemma's eyes had closed the moment he'd started to wash her hair, and now her breath hitched in her throat with each swirl of his hands. Her face was pelted by the spray of the shower, and she felt every droplet at it hit her breasts, stomach, and thighs. Several times a second they pinged off her hard nipples and dripped down the valley of her cleavage, snaking their way over her belly button to the V of hair between her legs.

She drew in a panting breath as she wondered if he'd wash her there, as well.

Arching her back, she brought her hands up to massage her breasts while Fitz worked his hands through her hair again and again. Her sighs turned to moans and she pressed her ass back against his hard cock.The tense, tingling feeling in her gut wound tighter and tighter as she felt the side of his shaft nudge its way between her cheeks.

* * *

She covered her mouth and coughed briefly as an excuse to check if her face were as flushed as she thought it might be and was embarrassed at how hot her skin was.

Blinking her eyes back into concentration, she tuned back into the meeting long enough to learn about the new cover sheets for their TPS reports. She nodded along to the instructions for the new procedure and tapped her lips with her pen.

* * *

Kneeling down on the floor of the shower, Jemma looked up at Fitz as she circled the head of his prick with her tongue. She loved the way he shuddered and moaned her name when she did it, so she did it again.

And again.

And again.

This time when Fitz's fingers slid into her hair, it wasn't to massage her scalp or give her a shampoo, it was to tug her mouth further down on his cock.

She smiled internally at his impatience and allowed herself to be guided an inch, two, three down his shaft. Then, cheeks hollowing with suction, she eased her way back up before plunging down again. Her right hand pumped the part of him that she couldn't fit in her mouth while her left grabbed onto the flesh of his ass.

Every time her mouth descended, she felt his ass clench in her fist, and every time she moved back up, she heard him moan and curse.

" _Fuck_ , Jemma," he groaned out in a voice so dripping with sex she found herself shivering. "I don't know where you learned how to do this," he said with a soft chuckle. "But you must have been top of your class."

* * *

She made a note in her phone to schedule some time on the Cray. Dr. Sutcliffe's early maternity leave had freed up several coveted spots, and she wanted to make sure she got at least one of them. Then she wiggled in her seat, pressing her ass a bit harder into the cushion.

* * *

Jemma's breath came in hard, irregular pants as she pressed her cheek and chest to the cool tile of the shower wall.

Fitz was on his knees behind her, finished now with soaping up her breasts and moving the soft sponge mitt down her back. He swiped it back and forth across her skin, covering her in the lather of her bodywash and then letting the shower rinse it away before making another pass. Then, bypassing her ass, he moved down to her feet and worked his way up.

She found herself moving up on her tiptoes and arching her back almost until it hurt. Anything to tempt him to touch her where she wanted it most. But he continued slowly up her calf and thigh, taking his time to wash every millimeter of her skin.

"Fitz," she gasped in a breathy whisper as her fingers clutched at the slippery wall. "Please..."

"Soon," he whispered back, planting a soft kiss to one round cheek. Then he started from her feet again, this time working his way up her other leg.

Finally, she felt the soft mitten just barely touch the hair of her pussy, and she shuddered out a moan of desire. "Yes," she gasped quickly. "Yes, just there!"

"Here?" Fitz asked, lathering up her curls. "Or here?" he moved the mitt around to her ass and rubbed gently in the crease between her cheeks.

"Oh!" she gasped again as he pressed against her tight hole. He didn't try to enter her with his fingers again, just teased the outside of her rosebud until she wanted him to.

"Well?" he asked.

* * *

Leaning forward in her chair, Jemma pretended to make notes on her agenda. In actuality, she was making a list of supplies.

  * bulk box of condoms
  * sexual lubricant
  * wand vibrator or small dildo
  * butt plug?
  * che



She was interrupted in her task when Agent Aquino, who was running the meeting, announced staffing changes for the coming week. Looking at her instead of at Fitz, she waited to hear her own named called with her reassignment to Dr. Streiten's lab. 

"... And that's it for next week. Now, new business?"

Jemma frowned slightly and blinked. How come her transfer hadn't been announced. She understood that they might not want to mention _where_ she was being moved, but was the project so secret that even the fact that she was being seconded couldn't be revealed? 

Giving herself a mental shake, she sat up straighter in her chair and forced herself to focus on the meeting. No doubt she'd find out later why it was being kept under wraps.


	37. Supply Run

Fitz stood in the sexual health aisle in the pharmacy looking a bit lost.

Jemma had given him a _very_ detailed list indeed and assigned him three items to pick up. Two of them weren't an issue. He had the box of 36 condoms and the bottle of personal lubricant. What was tripping him up were the dental dams. He couldn't find them anywhere.

Glancing at his watch, he saw that his lunch hour was almost finished and grabbed a 4 pack of flavoured condoms that they could cut open and use instead. Better than nothing?

As he approached the cashier, Fitz looked down at the three items in his hands and felt a blush rising in his cheeks. You'd think that by his age he'd be able to buy products like this without embarrassment.

You'd be wrong.

Tensing his jaw in determination, he plunged on into the lineup and tried not to make eye contact with the woman in front of him in line.

Was she looking at him? She was looking at him. She had to be thinking he was a massive sex pervert to have this many condoms. Didn't she?

She smirked at him and turned back around to face forward again, and moved a half step in line as the customer at the cash took his bags and left.

Fitz tapped his foot impatiently and resisted the urge to check his watch again. This cashier had to be the slowest one on the face of the earth. There was no way she was working at peak efficiency. And what kind of operating system was that till using? Ringing items through was taking an age.

Finally, approximately twenty _years_ after joining the line, Fitz was able to put his items on the little conveyor belt and avoid the eyes of the cashier as he got his wallet out of his messenger bag.

When he lifted his eyes, he couldn't stop himself from looking at the person behind him in line to see if _they_ were judging him, too.

He looked up, directly into the face of Kyle, the hotel desk clerk from the day before.

Kyle grinned hugely as he placed his Arizona Ice Tea on the belt next to Fitz's sexual accoutrements.

"Stopping by for lunch again today?" he asked mildly.

Fitz jerked his eyes to the cashier who was looking from one to the other of them as if they planned on using the condoms _together_. "Not today," Fitz managed to eek out. "We're... busy."

"Well," Kyle said helpfully as Fitz shoved a few bills at the cashier. "The Charleston Hotel is always there to welcome you when you need it."

"Right," Fitz acknowledged quickly. "Uh, thanks?" He stuffed the condoms and lube into his bag and scrunched the receipt into his pocket. "Have a good day," he nodded to the cashier as he turned to go.

"Not as good as _you_ ," she muttered under her breath.

* * *

"So, how can I get myself invited to a paid work lunch, then?" Fitz teased as they climbed the stairs up to his apartment. They'd eaten dinner at her place but then picked up his duffle and knapsack full of clothes to bring them back to his.

"Build a time machine so you can redo uni for BioChem?" Jemma teased back. "But I think you might want to fix your elevator first."

He was only on the third floor, but considering the sweltering heat of the staircase it felt more like the thirteenth.

"Let's see how my aircon is getting on first," Fitz suggested, catching his breath on the landing. Pushing the stairwell door open, he held it for Jemma to walk through and then followed along behind her to his apartment door.

"Definitely," she agree vehemently. "Turn it up on full, please. Immediately."

His keys jangled in his hand as he wrestled with the sticky doorknob, but he managed to get it open without too much fuss.

"Ah," he sighed with relief. "It _works_." Dropping his duffle and messenger bag on the floor, he spread his arms wide and luxuriated in the cool air.

"Thank Heavens," Jemma sighed, dropping Fitz's knapsack next to his other bags and placing her purse on his hall table. Then she ducked into the kitchen to get herself a glass of cold water.

She blushed when she opened the freezer for some ice. She couldn't help wondering if Fitz might like to try that game again, and this time not interrupt it.

"Water?" she called through to him in the living room.

"Please," he answered.

By the time she returned to his living room with their drinks, he was sat on the couch with his laptop booting up on the coffee table. They exchanged smiles as she passed him his glass and sat down next to him, curling up against his side.

"So," he said as he took a long sip, "What are they wooing you for?"

"Wooing?" Jemma asked, raising her eyebrows and taking a sip of her own.

"You don't go out for lunch with muckity mucks unless they're trying to woo you for something," Fitz grinned, nudging her with his elbow. "C'mon, give!"

"There's nothing _to_ give!" Jemma insisted, nudging him back.

He looked at her with an expression of mock skepticism. "A likely story," he tutted. Then he finished off his water and put the glass down on the table so that he could pull his laptop into his lap.

"The site is-"

"I know what it is," he interrupting her patiently. "I remember."

Jemma smiled and continued to sip her water delicately. She watched carefully as Fitz hit enter on the url and grinned wickedly at the look on his face when the site loaded.

"Just there," Jemma pointed to the screen. "Where it says 'anal'," she explained unnecessarily.

Fitz swallowed hard and clicked on the link. His eyes widened at the collection of colourful implements of various shapes and sizes that appeared on his screen.

"They don't look like..." he trailed off uncertainly, looking at his lap.

Jemma nodded, leaning closer to the screen and placing her half-full glass absent-mindedly on the table. "That one there," she said, pointing at a purple rubber butt plug that looked more like something from Dr Seuss than something someone would push up their backside.

"Really?" Fitz asked, looking from the screen to his girlfriend.

"Oh!" she said, pulling the computer into her own lap in her excitement. "Look at these ones! It's a set!" She clicked on a picture of three toys of increasing length and girth which were labelled as a 'training kit.' "That's probably more what we need," she said, smiling back at him.

Fitz nodded distractedly, his attention being pulled to every different part of the screen. He'd never shopped for sex toys before, and he'd had no idea how many different kinds there were. He'd always just sort of assumed, when he'd thought of it at all, that they all just sort of looked like cocks.

How wrong he was.

"Oh, nevermind," Jemma said, sounding disappointed. "This set is made from jelly."

"Is that bad?" Fitz asked with a frown.

"It's more difficult to clean," she explained, clicking on another set and then another. "Medical grade silicon would be best," she continued to poke around the site.

"Huh," Fitz nodded. "Makes sense?" he watched her navigate her way through the maze of products with a laser-like focus on what she wanted.

"Although..." she said, pausing on a set of three glass butt plugs with accompanying penis-like dildo.

Fitz reached over to the track pad and clicked on the details for the set. "Glass?" he said, mouth turned down in contemplation. "That'd be easy to clean, wouldn't it?"

"Very," Jemma nodded. "And also a conductor, if you wanted to try..." She looked at him archly and then looked over at their glasses, sweating on the coffee table as the ice in them melted.

"Yeah?" he asked, a grin widening across his face.

"It would certainly conduct temperature well," she said in a neutral tone that was entirely betrayed by the excitement on her face.

"Glass it is!" Fitz said, adding the set to the cart.

He was clicking on the cart to check out when Jemma rested her hand on his.

"I mean," she said, and this time she actually blushed. "Maybe we could look around a bit more?"

He didn't even have to think before he agreed.


	38. Hot and Cold

Jemma let out a shivery gasp at the cool wetness touching the inside of her wrist. "Ohhh," she sighed as Fitz moved the ice along her skin and followed it with the warmth of his lips.

"Alright?" he murmured against her pulse before kissing her there again.

"Mmhmm," she nodded, biting her lower lip and then dragging her teeth back along it until it popped free.

Her eyes were closed, but that was unnecessary due to the necktie they'd wrapped over top of them. She was lying in his bed again, wearing one of his shirts spread open to reveal her breasts. The pale blue cotton bikini panties she'd put on this morning at his request were pulled down slightly in the front to reveal a few wisps of hair, and she was sure if she spread her legs right now they'd reveal how wet she was already.

Her legs were most decidedly together, however, as she squeezed her thighs in an effort to put some pressure on her clit.

Fitz sucked slowly on the inside of her wrist, his tongue sliding along her skin, and she couldn't believe how hot she was getting when the ice he was using was so cold.

Lifting her hand, he kissed her palm and the tip of each finger before bringing it over her head and guiding her to grip the spindle of his headboard. She moved her other hand the same way without needing to be told and stretched herself out as long as she could on his mattress.

"You're bloody _gorgeous_ , you know that?" he whispered in her ear. His breath, so unexpectedly close, made her shiver again.

Bringing her hand down from his headboard, she floundered for a moment in her blindness before she managed to slide her fingers into his hair, and then she pulled him down to her lips. "You are, too," she whispered back before she kissed him.

Their lips met all too briefly for her liking, and then she was raising her head, chasing him. She was about to protest when she heard the rustle of his clothes coming off.

Settling back on the bed, she allowed a smirk to spread across her face as she reached up to grab the spindle again.

Almost immediately, her smirk dropped open into a sharp intake of breath and her grip on the spindles tightened, pulling her body a few inches up the bed.

Fitz had just taken another ice cube and circled her navel.

* * *

Fitz split his attention between the television screen hanging on his wall and Jemma curled up in front of him. After they'd finished spending more money than was probably advisable on sex toys, she'd suggested they revisit their last time in his apartment and watch the movie that had inspired his fantasy. 

So here they were, lying down on his couch, her in front and him behind, watching a movie that was so 1980's it was painful. 

Of course, once the sex scenes started, things like shoulder pads and frosted hair no longer seemed that important. 

Shifting behind her, Fitz tried to find a position that was more comfortable for him that wouldn't also end up sticking his hardon into her back. 

"Shh," she hissed impatiently, elbowing him to stop squirming around.

He looked down at her rapt face, concentrating just as hard as she had been on her dildo search, and couldn't help but smile.

Jemma was doing what she always did when she discovered a new passion. She was diving in head first and learning it inside and out, trying to understand and experience every bit of it as soon as humanly possible. Usually her new passions were based around science, but this time the biology was a lot more... practical.

And as so often happened when she got consumed by something, she was dragging Fitz right along with her, a willing companion on the road to discovery.

He couldn't believe it had only been a week since his air con had blown out and he'd shown up on Jemma's doorstep. Only five days since she'd walked in on him wanking in the shower. Just yesterday in that hotel room over lunch that he'd realized that he lo-

"That," Jemma said, pausing the video and pointing at the screen.

"What?" Fitz asked, dragging his thoughts back to the present moment.

"I want to try _that_ ," she said, looking at him over her shoulder and jerking her thumb toward the screen.

He frowned in confusion as he looked at the frozen frame. "But we _did_ try that," he said, not sure what she was getting at. "You mean you want to try it again?" He was definitely willing to "try" it as many times as she'd let him.

"No," Jemma argued, rolling onto her back and looking up at him where he was still propped up on his side. "We tried _part_ of that," she specified. "I want to try _all_ of it."

Fitz looked at the screen again to figure out what she... His frown cleared as he realized. "You mean, you want to try-" he swung his index finger back and forth in front of his eyes.

"Mmhmm," she said, smiling up at him hopefully.

Well then.

Time for another new experience.

* * *

Jemma panted hard, breath catching in her throat as her hands clenched and unclenched around the spindles of Fitz's headboard.

He was cradling one foot in his hand now and dragging an ice cube along her instep, and she'd never realized before what an erogenous zone that was. And then he blew across the cool, wet trail he'd left and her whole body shuddered in response.

"Good?" he chuckled, and she was just getting ready to say something sarcastic when she felt his lips on the sole of her foot and the words were frozen on her lips.

Her hips started to roll in lazy circles as he trailed his way up her calf, first with his fingers and then with his mouth. She knew where he was heading, and she couldn't wait for him to get there. "Please?" she whispered softly, hooking her knee around his neck as he kissed her thigh.

"Mm mmm," he refused, shaking his head against her skin.

Then the ice was back, and he was tracing intricate patterns on the sensitive skin of her inner thigh, chasing the sharp cold wetness with the soft heat of his tongue. Her clit throbbed and her pussy squeezed around nothing and she let out an embarrassing whimper of need, and still he stayed away from where she wanted him.

The bed shifted as he moved to the side of her body, and she wondered what he was going to do next. She was riding an edge of fear, not being able to see what he was doing to her, but the adrenaline that it pumped through her system also heightened her senses and made her arousal more acute.

She couldn't imagine doing this with anyone else but Fitz. No one else had her unconditional trust like he did. No one else had earned it, either.

Cool water dripped down onto her lips, and she opened her mouth to catch them. Her gasping breaths had left her thirsty, and those few drops of water were better than wine.

"More?" she moaned, craning her head up toward where she thought he might be, but she didn't let go of his headboard. She didn't want to. Fitz was in control this time, and it was amazing.

"Here you go," Fitz said in a voice rough with need as he pressed an ice cube against her mouth.

She parted her lips and sucked on it hungrily, capturing his fingers as well, and she loved groaning noise that urged out of him.

"Mmm you like to suck, don't you?" he whispered, sliding the ice back and forth across her lips.

"Uh huh," she agreed, opening wide and taking what was left of the cube into her mouth, along with his thumb and forefinger. She kept them in her mouth as she sucked the ice down to nothing and then she slowly pulled her lips away.

"Holy _fuck_ ," Fitz swore and his voice sounded as shivery and needful as she felt.

"More," she said, and this time she was demanding not begging. If he wouldn't give her what she wanted, she'd just have to settle for the next best thing.

* * *

Fitz tried hard to keep his cool and control his urges, but that had been a losing proposition from the moment Jemma had stood in front of him in her tiny little panties and one of his shirts and asked him to tie a blindfold over her eyes. Having her stretched out on his bed, her whole body tense and needy and making the most wonderful sounds... Well, he was only a man after all. 

He watched, gut twisting with desire, as she sucked another ice cube down to nothingness and then licked her lips so seductively he actually forgot how to breathe for a second.

"Do you want to suck on something else?" he asked, waiting eagerly for her response. He didn't know if she'd want to do it in her current position and with the blindfold on, but...

But then her hand left his headboard and groped its way to his bare ass, and then she was pulling him toward her and he was thanking all the gods in the universe that she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

Her perfect pink lips pressed a kiss against the head of his cock, and then they parted to allow him to push in. His stomach and ass clenched as goosebumps sprang out on his flesh at the amazing feeling of her sucking him deeper and deeper into her mouth. Kneeling beside her pillow, he looked down at her plump red lips wrapped around his hard cock, her cheekbones highlighted by the concavity caused by her sucking, and he wished he could see her eyes. He loved to look at her thick lashes resting on those cheeks, their darkness contrasting against the paleness of her skin.

He thrust into her mouth slowly and gently, letting her set the pace and depth to her comfort. He wasn't going to cum in her mouth. He was saving it for when he fucked her. This was just an appetizer, a tease for both of them of what was to come.

Fishing another ice cube out of the bowl, he guided it along her cheek before trailing it down her arching neck. The sensations caused her to swallow reflexively, and he found himself buried an inch deeper in her mouth. Suddenly, shooting down her throat was a real possibility.

Easing out from between her lips, he echoed her small cry of disappointment. He loved the way she sucked his cock and teased him with her tongue, but this wasn't about _him_ , it was about _her_ , and by giving her what she wanted, they'd both end up satisfied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... to be continued because it's midnight and I need to go sleep and this chapter is a wall of text already.


	39. Hotter and Colder

Fitz watched in fascination as Jemma's nipple got even harder as he circled it with the ice. The shivery little gasps she was letting out were entering his ears and going straight to his cock, and he wanted nothing more than to keep them happening.

"Do you like that?" he asked as he moved his hand over and circled her other nipple.

Jemma nodded as she shivered and gasped again. "Yes," she whispered between her panting breaths.

He watched, entranced, as the rivulets of water created shiny pathways down the slopes of her breasts, each sparkling drop a star in the constellation of her skin.

Sliding the cube in the valley between her breasts, he watched the moisture pool there and thought about that wetness wrapped around his hard cock. Instead, he balanced the small nub of ice that remained at the top of her rib cage and stroked himself with his fist as he watched it melt.

"Fitz?" Jemma called, her head turning toward the soft sound of his palm sliding back and forth along the stiff shaft of his dick. With her eyes covered, she had no way of knowing what he was doing, or even where he was.

"I'm still here, Jemma," he reassured her, resting his free hand on her hip. Leaning over, he kissed her lips as he squeezed himself tight in his grip. "I'm not going anywhere."

Jemma bit her lip and nodded, and he found himself staring at the way her smooth stomach rose and fell with each breath. The way she had stretched her body out on his mattress, there was a small concavity around her navel, and it was much too tempting to resist.

Releasing his cock, he lay down beside her, the full length of his body pressing against hers, and he reached for the ice again. 

* * *

Jemma yelped at the feeling of a fresh ice cube touching the sensitive skin right above her panties. "Fitz!" she gasped, her knees pulling inward protectively, but then she was moaning because he'd leaned over and taken one of her aching, hard nipples in his mouth.

"Shh," he whispered, kissing it gently before sucking it in again.

The ice moved from her skin to the cotton of her panties and the thin barrier was enough for her to lower her legs again.

"Better?" he asked, sucking a bit harder as he dragged the ice down her mound toward her lips.

She panted hard, trying to catch her breath, and nodded. "I think so," she whispered back, and she arched her hips against his hand. She loved the feel of the hard ice being guided between her legs, but she was less sure about how cold it was and how her damp panties were sticking to her skin.

The wonderful pressure that had been beginning between her legs suddenly stopped as Fitz removed his hand, but before she could protest his fingers were back without the ice.

"How about now?" he asked, touching her lightly and making her shiver with something other than cold.

"Mmm, yes," she sighed. He pressed harder now, rubbing her through her panties, pushing them slightly inside of her.

She felt his breath on her face before she felt his lips press down on hers, and that extra moment of anticipation was enough to make her thrust her hips up against his fingers. His tongue slid into her mouth at the same time that his finger slid under the elastic of her panties, and she moaned loud and long at the feeling.

"Tell me what you want, Jemma," Fitz rasped in her ear. "Tell me what you want me to do."

Loosening her grip on the spindles of his headboard, Jemma whimpered as she brought her arms down from their outstretched position. One hand threaded into his hair, pulling him down for another deep kiss, and the other moved down to cover his and push two of his fingers inside her.

"Touch me," she whispered against his lips, and then she kissed him again.

* * *

Fitz frowned at Jemma's whimpers. He hadn't meant to hurt her. Lifting his lips from hers, he kissed first one shoulder and then the other before nuzzling the hollow at the base of her throat. He pumped his fingers slowly in and out of her wet pussy and used his thumb to rub her clit. He groaned when she squeezed tight around him.

"Fuck, you feel _so good_ ," he mumbled into her chest. He was balanced on his knees and one forearm, hovering over her, and each time he leaned down for a kiss the head of his cock rubbed across her skin and made him shudder with desire. He was leaking precum like a faucet, and he blushed at how messy he was making her thigh, but Jemma didn't seem to notice.

"So do you," Jemma moaned, rolling her hips to get his fingers deeper inside her. She grabbed his head with both of her hands and moved him back down to her breast, and he took the hint, sucking on her nipple once more.

He listened intently to the changing pitch of her sighs and whimpers, loving the way they got louder and closer together the nearer she got to her orgasm. His fingers moved faster now, and he added a third. This changed her pitch again, and now she was moaning and saying his name.

"Fitz?" Jemma whined, a desperate plea from the back of her throat. He moved his lips to her other nipple and sucked and nibbled and teased it with his tongue.

"Fitz?" she said again, a bit louder. He kissed his way slowly down her body, stopping briefly to dip his tongue into her navel, and finished his trip between her legs. He paused his fingers' movements inside her just long enough to remove her panties, and then he pushed them deep inside her again and leaned forward to kiss her clit.

" _Fitz?"_ Her voice was rising out of control now, the vowel in the middle of his name elongated in proportion to her need. He fingered her fast and hard now, his tongue massaging her clit as fast as he could manage it. He paused his licks at every few strokes of his tongue to suck her clit between his lips, and then he was licking again. Licking her hard little clit while his fingers pounded into her wet pussy again and again and _again_. 

He knew she was close. She would go over the edge any moment now. If he just sucked a _little bit_ harder, she should-

 _" **Fitz!**_ " she screamed, her body arching so that only the top of her head and the heels of her feet were touching the mattress.

* * *

Jemma lay breathless and spent on Fitz's mattress and waited for her mind to stop spinning.

Fitz slid up her body again and cradled her against him, pulling gently on the cloth tied around her head to remove the blindfold. 

Blinking in the sudden brightness of his bedroom, she smiled at him shyly. She'd never let go quite that much with anyone before, and she wasn't entirely sure what he'd think of her now. 

He was looking back a bit shyly himself, and she couldn't help but laugh at the two of them blushing. You'd think they hadn't just spent a whole week having the most inventive sex she'd experienced in her life to date. 

"Thank you," she whispered softly before pulling him down for a kiss. He tried to stop her and she didn't know why, and then she tasted herself on his lips. She smiled again and kissed him one more time. The absolute sweetheart. Like that would stop her after what he'd just done. 

Her body was still heavy and languorous, her limbs and joints as loose as if they were made of jello, but kissing Fitz was doing what it always did and ratcheting her up again. 

Rolling him onto his back, she straddled his waist and shivered with pleasure at the feeling of his hard cock sliding against her wetness. She leaned down to kiss him again, and they both moaned when the movement brought the head of his cock to the entrance of her pussy. His hands gripped her ass and pulled her tight against him, but he didn't push himself in yet. 

"Are you sure?" he asked, looking down at where they were almost joined. 

"Mmhmm," she nodded, still slipping along his length without bringing him inside. Then she picked up his discarded tie from the pillow beside his bed and held it up in front of her with a question on her face. "Chapter 24?" she asked, winding it around one hand and then the other. 

* * *

Fitz swallowed hard and felt his cock twitch against her. Nodding slowly, he looked up at her as he lifted his arms over his head and gripped the headboard. 

"Not too tight?" he asked a bit hesitantly as she leaned over him. "Alright?"

"Loose as you like," she agreed, giving him a soft peck. And then she looped his tie around his wrists and pulled it through his headboard, and then pulled one end through under the other and slowly tighter until he told her to stop. "Okay?" she asked, one hand flat against his chest and the other hand playing with the hair at his temples. 

He lifted his head up to kiss her and she met him when he couldn't reach any further. "Perfect," he agreed. And then he moaned. She'd stood up on her knees and grabbed his cock, stroking the wetness from her dripping cunt along his shaft and rubbing her thumb across the head. "Oh,  _fuck_ ," he gasped as she pressed just right against the vein on the underside of his dick. 

"That's the plan," Jemma grinned. And then she held his cock steady beneath her and slowly sank down onto it. 

Their moans and sighs co-mingled as she rose and fell on top of him. Her hands pressed into his chest, palms flat, to help her find her balance, and he loved the way her upper arms pushed her breasts together. 

Looking up at her as she rode him, he knew he wasn't going to last long. Not after everything else they'd already done. Not when she was there above him, face flushed and nipples hard and hair mussed like every fantasy he'd ever had of her. 

"Jemma," he groaned, digging his heels into the mattress so that he could thrust his hips up to meet her downstrokes. 

She looked down at him, watching him, gauging his reactions to her movements, and the way she was studying him like he was one of her experiments was somehow turning him on even more. 

"Is this good?" she asked, leaning back and rolling her hips in a complicated movement that made her pussy squeeze him in a vice-like grip. 

"Or do you prefer this?" she asked, leaning forward and dragging her nipples over his chest, barely moving her hips at all but still somehow massaging him inside of her. 

"Yes," he moaned, the tension in his gut increasing with every movement between them. "Fuck,  _yes_ ," he shuddered. He pulled at the tie around his wrists, but didn't actually try to loosen it. There was something amazing about having her so intent on pleasing him. He'd never been a puzzle she was figuring out before. It turned out he quite liked the feeling. 

"Yes to what?" Jemma asked, teasing his nipples as she looked down at him and smiled. He'd never realized before how sensitive they were or how good they could make him feel. 

"Everything," he said quickly, pistoning his hips faster against her. "Anything you like," he said desperately. 

And then he was cumming. 

It felt like it started from his toes and the top of his head and rushed to meet in his gut before pouring out of his cock. He thrust so hard and so high up into her that he lifted Jemma almost entirely off of the bed. His headboard creaked as he pulled on the tie, and he was still jetting into her when the spindle he was tied to broke. 

Shaking his hands out of the loose knot she'd tied, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down for a kiss. 

When he finally let her up again, they both chuckled wryly at the state of his bed. 

"Oops?" he said sheepishly, blushing yet proud. 

Jemma bit her lip trying to keep the grin off her face. "Is it bad that I want to brag about this?" she asked. 

And then he rolled her over onto her back and tickled her while nuzzling her neck. Her laughter bubbled up in her throat and he looked down at her beneath him. Her hair was splayed out on his pillow like a halo and her cheeks were flushed almost as red as her lips, and she was the most gorgeous thing he'd ever seen. 

"God, I love you," he laughed, and then he leaned down and kissed her. 


	40. Word of the Day: Awkward

Jemma's eyebrows rose in surprise and her mouth dropped open without her permission. She blinked up at Fitz's rapidly falling face and tried to _think_ , but the Broca's area of her frontal lobe refused to engage her mouth in speech and she merely squeaked instead.

"I mean," Fitz hedged as he rolled off of her and onto his back. "Uh, that is..."

She could _feel_ the waves of awkward embarrassment emanating from him, but she was still frozen in shock. Had he really said-?

"I, um, y'know..."

He really had, hadn't he?

She licked her suddenly dry lips and tried to swallow with a parched throat. "Thanks," she finally managed to rasp out.

"You're... welcome?" Fitz replied.

They were both a bit at sea here, and what she wouldn't give for a raft.

"Not that I _don't_... that." Jemma closed her eyes and wished that the universe would open up a hole and suck her out of the room already. "I've just," she squeezed her eyes shut tighter, then opened one up to take a quick look at him. "I've never-" she closed it again and shook her head. "That's... _new_."

And she was a massive idiot. How could Fitz... _love_... her when she was a massive idiot?

"Right," Fitz said in a slightly strangled sort of voice. "Of course. Not a problem."

* * *

Fitz lay beside Jemma, staring at the ceiling in silence for another awkward minute or two.

"So..." he started, at the same time Jemma said, "I suppose I ought to be getting home."

They turned their heads to look at each other, and Fitz had never felt this uncomfortable with her before.

He mentally kicked himself for causing the weirdness. They both knew that _he_ was the romantic one. He really should have waited for her signal before dropping something as momentous as the 'L' word on her.

"-less you want me to _stay_ , of course."

"I mean, if you _want_ to-"

He'd been trying to ease the pressure on her, but it had been the wrong thing to say. As soon as it came out of his mouth, he saw her do that ridiculous 'stiff upper lip' thing where she locked everything up tight. He hated it when she shut him out like that.

"Right," she said, and her voice was too bright and her eyes were shiny and her smile quivered a tiny bit, and he had no idea what to say.

"Jem-"

"-just use the loo, if you don't mind."

Fitz nodded helplessly and wished, quite possibly for the first time ever, that Jemma came with instructions.

* * *

Jemma splashed some water on her face and blinked it out of her eyes. She stared at herself in the mirror and wished she weren't so... _her_. 

"It's _Fitz_ ," she told herself, sternly. "Of _course_ you love him."

Except it didn't _feel_ like love.

There were no choirs of angels. No halos around his head. She didn't stay up at nights wondering if he was thinking of her, and she didn't have any urges to write their names together inside of hearts. She _did_ shiver with a thrill sometimes when they touched, but that was just arousal, not love. She felt plenty of _that_ , but that's not what Fitz was talking about.

Pressing her lips together, she willed herself to love Fitz. She tried to think of him surrounded by a border of candy hearts. She tried to picture dancing with him to a romantic song. She thought of Shakespeare's sonnets and tried to apply them to Fitz.

None of it worked.

She felt horrible. More awful than she could remember feeling in her entire life to date.

Fitz loved her, and she didn't love him back.

* * *

Fitz knocked gently on the bathroom door. Jemma'd been in there for an awfully long time, and there was nothing but silence from the other side of the door. 

He was starting to wonder if she were hiding from him.

"Jemma?" he called softly. "It's alright if you," he took a shaky breath. "If you want to go home. I don-don't mind. Really."

He had no idea if he sounded sincere or not, but if her going home for a bit helped fix this thing, then he was all in favour. He didn't like feeling as if they were broken. It was unnatural.

It wasn't FitzSimmons.

"Jemma?" he tried again, lifting his hand to knock. He met with air instead of wood, though, and then Jemma was launching herself at him.

"Wha-?"

"I'm sorry, Fitz," she was saying while hugging him so tight he worried about his ribs.

"Hey now," he soothed her, rubbing her back. "What's all this?"

"I don't want to break up with you," Jemma said, looking at him with such tortured sincerity that he could only wonder what on earth she'd been thinking to herself in there.

"Who said we were breaking up?" he asked, genuinely curious. Had she considered dumping him because he'd told her he loved her?

Jemma returned his look with one of utter confusion. "You _don't_ want to break up with me?" she asked. "Even though-"

"Even though," Fitz confirmed hastily, not wanting to hear a recap of the most awkward moment in his life. Past, present _or_ future.

"Really?" Jemma asked hopefully, and she looked so adorably worried, he had to kiss her.

"Love isn't a matter of dependent covariance," he joked a bit lamely. "My feeling it doesn't necessitate your feeling it at the same time." Much as he might want it to.

"But I want it to," Jemma pointed out with a small smile.

Fitz smiled at her, the pang in his chest lessening. "I suppose that's a start."


	41. Netflix and Chill the Fuck Out

Even though she hadn't planned to stay over, Jemma slept at Fitz's that night. They were both out of sorts and awkward with each other, but neither of them wanted her to go.

They also didn't engage in any of the 'activities' that they'd so recently added to their relationship. Instead, Fitz loaned her a tshirt and a pair of boxer shorts to sleep in and they settled down in front of the telly for some Netflix and cuddling. They were going back to the comfort of their friendship to get them past the rocky uncertainty of their romance. After a week spent in a whirlwind of passion, it was a welcoming calm.

"As much as I love classic Star Trek," Fitz sighed, shaking his head. "I'll never forgive them for casting an Irish Canadian as Scottie."

"Maybe," Jemma giggled. Fitz glared at her, already knowing what was coming. "Maybe they dinnae ha' the powerrr," she said before bursting into laughter.

"What have I said about attempting a Scottish accent?" Fitz asked with a long suffering look. "It's the _one thing_ I've asked you never to do. And what do you do?" he asked rhetorically. " _That._ You do _that_."

Jemma was laughing too hard to respond and Fitz felt himself start to laugh just because she was laughing so hard.

It felt good. As much as their relationship had changed over the past week, the core of it was still the same.

* * *

Jemma woke up early with Fitz pressed against her back. She was all set to be annoyed until she realized that she was holding him there with a light grip on his arm. With more than a little bit of surprise, she remembered doing that the night before when he'd reluctantly stopped spooning her. How had she managed to keep him there all night and still sleep?

As it was, she was uncomfortably warm, even with the air conditioning working again.

Still, she smiled as she felt Fitz shift position behind her as he woke up.

"Are we cooking?" she asked. "Or going out for brekkie?"

Fitz squinted in the light coming in through his drapes and wiped his eyes clear of sleep. "Going out," he mumbled through a yawn. "I've nothing in, remember?" They'd taken all of his perishables to her place when she'd decided he was staying with her.

"Alright then," she said, sitting up and stripping off her borrowed shirt. "Get a move on, then. I'm hungry."

Fitz smiled up at her and swept her back down to the bed beside him with one arm around her waist.

"Me too," he grinned, waggling his eyebrows comically. His hand moved down from her waist into her shorts and grabbed her ass.

"Oh, really?" Jemma grinned back. "What are you in the mood for?"

She squealed and laughed as Fitz dove under the covers, and then she moaned when he reached his destination.

It didn't last long, though.

"Fitz?" she asked, lifting the blanket.

He was blushing and looking intensely awkward.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing?" he answered, looking completely unsure. "It's just... I don't think it's a good time for... this particular... activity," he said lamely.

Jemma frowned, not sure what he...

"Oh, _Fitz_ ," she said, apologetically. "I'm sorry! I forgot I was due."

Looking down between her legs, she saw a red spot on the sheets.

* * *

"They're old sheets, Jemma," Fitz rolled his eyes as he dug into his Belgian waffle. "Don't worry about it."

"But the stain-"

"Will come out," he finished patiently. "Besides, it's not like it'll never happen again," he pointed out reasonably. "They'll just be my period sheets from here on out. Alright?"

Jemma couldn't help laughing at that one. "You've been best friends with a woman for too long," she smiled, taking a bite of her egg white omelet.

"Never long enough," Fitz winked back.

They parted with a kiss after breakfast was over, Fitz on his way to the grocery store and Jemma returning home to change and catch up on things she'd let slip while Fitz was staying with her. She was just thankful she'd had a tampon in her bag... and that her work clothes didn't make her look _too_ much like she was doing a walk of shame.

Her apartment felt strangely empty without Fitz in it, but it also felt good to be alone. She had a lot to think about. She needed some time to herself.


	42. All By Myself

Fitz slouched down into his sofa and sighed. His apartment wasn't nearly as nice as Jemma's place. He'd never really noticed it before, but after spending a week in her two-year-old condo, coming back to his ancient walk-up with the creaky stairs and the single-pane windows that let all the street noise in was... Well, it was annoying frankly. He looked around at his second hand furniture and his dingy walls, and he compared them to Jemma's bright and welcoming living room, and his place just seemed dull. Dull and disorganized.

Standing up with a purposeful look on his face, Fitz walked over to the closest bookshelf and started emptying it out.

* * *

Jemma walked into her bathroom and immediately saw Fitz's schematic on the wall above the toilet. They'd neglected to pack it to take back to his place. She smiled and rolled her eyes as she took it down, clucking her tongue at their forgetfulness.

Setting it aside to return to him later, she stripped off her clothes to get into the shower. A nice, hot shower would definitely help with the aching feeling she had in the pit of her stomach.

She hated cramps.

* * *

It took him nearly three hours, but by the time he was done, Fitz was rather pleased with the effect. He wasn't like Jemma, wanting his books categorized by type and alphabetized by author. He was a more visual person, so he'd organized his books by colour. He rather liked the effect of the almost-gradient against the dull grey wall of his living room. It cheered the place up quite a bit.

He looked around the room with his hands perched on his lower back and assessed it for other possible improvements. Looking at his sofa, it seemed unfinished somehow. Bare. Missing something.

"Throw pillows," he muttered to himself. "And maybe a rug for under the table?"

Nodding to himself, he grabbed his keys and headed out again. Perhaps he'd pick up a couple of house plants, as well.

* * *

Jemma opened her fridge to see what ingredients she might have on hand for supper. She crinkled her nose when nothing seemed all that inspiring, and then started opening up cupboards to see what else she had on hand. After rummaging around a bit with no real craving, she turned around and noticed a bag of pretzels on the counter.

"Something salty sounds good, actually," she said, perking up a bit. Grabbing the bag, she poured out a generous bowl and then grabbed a can of Coke from the fridge to go with it.

"Just a snack," she told herself as she settled on the sofa and turned on the telly. "While I think about what to make for dinner."

* * *

Fitz pounded his head back against his pillow and blew out an annoyed breath. He hadn't noticed it last night, what with having a lovely distraction in here with him, but his bed wasn't _nearly_ as comfortable as Jemma's. Her pillows were fluffier and her sheets were softer and her mattress was firmer, and all of that combined to make falling asleep just _impossible_. 

Rolling his eyes with a groan, he rolled over onto his side and tried again. He'd give it another half hour, and then if he was still awake, he'd get out of bed and watch infomercials.

* * *

Jemma shivered a bit and got out of bed. She hadn't realized how much lower the temperature had been set when Fitz was here, but the aircon really _was_ just too strong for her to sleep properly. She bumped it up a few degrees warmer and slipped back into the centre of the bed under her covers. 

It was still too chilly to be able to sleep, but she'd soon warm up.

Rolling all the way to the side, she turned off her bedside lamp. She didn't bother rolling back to the middle again, though. She was comfortable enough where she was, and rolling over was just too much effort.

Pulling the blankets a bit tighter around herself, she shivered again. Maybe she should turn the AC off entirely?

* * *

Sunday morning was dull as dishwater as Fitz puttered around some more doing a few more household chores and generally feeling like his flat was simultaneously too small and too large. The ceilings were too low and the windows were too narrow and he didn't get enough light. But it also felt almost echoing in its emptiness. 

Maybe he should get a pet?

He dismissed that idea immediately. He could barely keep _himself_ in good nick, let alone anyone else.

With nothing else to do, he lay down on his sofa with his tablet and started reading.

It was intensely boring.

* * *

Jemma had done all of the laundry in her flat, including a pair of pants and three socks belonging to Fitz. She'd made up her lunch for the following day and started chicken marinated for dinner that night. She watered all of her plants, vacuumed her floors, and cleaned both her toilet and shower. 

She'd even read a few more chapters of _Chemistry_ , but it just wasn't holding her attention right now.

She was in the middle of reorganizing the office supplies in her desk drawers when she finally just gave up. This wasn't at all what she wanted to be doing just now.

Taking out her phone, she called the person she called the most.

"Fitz? Hi. Do you want to go to a matinee?"


	43. Post Coital Dating

Jemma grinned when she spotted Fitz waiting outside of the theatre. She loved it when they were both early. He turned and saw her and smiled too, and she felt a little burst of something in her chest. Happiness? Maybe? She _was_ happy to see him, after all. They'd been together 24 hours a day for a week straight. Being separated, even for just 24 hours, had felt strange.

"I missed you," she said, catching the lapels of his jacket and bringing him down for a kiss.

Fitz's eyebrows raised slightly in surprise and his smile got a bit wider. "I missed you, too."

Looping her hand in his, she led the way into the theatre. "Do you know of anything good playing?" she asked as she scanned the list of titles.

"Me?" Fitz asked. "You're the one who suggested a movie."

Jemma shrugged. "Isn't that what people do on dates?" she asked, pushing her nerves down. They were in a relationship. Going on a date was a normal part of that. There was nothing to feel nervous about.

"This is a date?" Fitz asked. The best way to describe his grin was definitely goofy. "You asked me out on a date," he teased, tickling her ribs.

"Hey," Jemma protested, smacking at his hand playfully. " _Yes_ , I asked you on a date, and you didn't even notice!" She stuck her nose up in a mock huff.

"Yeah, well," Fitz blushed. Jemma blushed too when she realized what he must be thinking. "We both sort of excel at that, don't we?"

Taking his hand again, she nodded. "We do." Then she pulled him down for another kiss. "Thankfully, we seem to have that sorted now," she smiled, giving his hand a squeeze.

"Thankfully," he agreed, smiling and squeezing back.

* * *

Fitz sat with his arm around Jemma as he watched the film in front of them. He'd never really thought about it before, but theatre seats really should have arms that could flip up or fold away or something. As it was, both he and his _girlfriend_ , he still grinned when he thought of her that way, were getting stuck in the ribs with the damned thing.

"Next time, let's just watch Netflix," he whispered to her, letting his hand smooth up and down her arm.

"Definitely," Jemma agreed, just as quietly. "I don't know about you, but I miss being able to pause the film and make out."

Fitz looked over his shoulder at the rapt faces around them before turning back to Jemma. "I mean," he started in a voice that tried to sound smooth and failed utterly. "I'm not that bothered about the plotline here if..."

Jemma pressed her lips together in that cute way she had to hold in a laugh. It was ostensibly a more serious moment in the film, but that was marred somewhat by both the acting and the soundtrack.

"I thought you'd never ask," she winked. Then she tilted her head.

"Brilliant," Fitz whispered. And then for the first time in his life, he made out with someone at the movies.

* * *

After the movie, they headed out for dinner, laughing and joking like they had for years. Really the only change was their tendency to hold hands across the table and the occasional more-than-friends look they exchanged over their meals. 

They lingered over their desserts, savoring the sweets while sipping some thoroughly average tea.

"So," Fitz started, a few butterflies floating around his stomach. "Did you want to come back to mine after?"

This was the first time they had to figure out the logistics of what happened post-date-outing. What were the rules here? Did you have to ask/offer? What if the other person said no? Was one apartment better than the other? Should you have time allowed to pack an overnight bag? At what point did you guy a second toothbrush and give the other person a drawer?

It was all sort of up in the air.

Jemma smiled, feeling that same burst in her chest as earlier before she realized that she probably shouldn't. She was joining Dr. Streiten's lab in the morning, on the other side of town. It wasn't as if they could commute together _and_ there was the problem of her not being able to tell Fitz anything about it.

The drawbacks to working for a spy agency.

"Maybe not tonight," she said, looking very apologetic. "What with... things being as they are." At least she had the excuse of having her period to throw off any possible suspicions.

She really hated misleading Fitz, but what could she do? It was part of the job.

Fitz blushed as he caught her reference. "Ah, right," he nodded quickly. "We don't have to-" He stopped himself short, looking to see if anyone could overhear them. "We could just _sleep_ ," he rephrased. "I..." He swallowed hard. "I like sharing with you," he admitted.

It wasn't what he was originally going to say, but what with his _I love you_ still sort of hovering around them in the background, he figured it was better to be a bit more circumspect sometimes.

"Me too," Jemma smiled, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze. Taking a deep breath, she admitted, "I missed you last night."

Fitz let out the breath he'd been having in a sort of airy chuckle. "I missed you, too." It felt good to say it.

"Maybe," Jemma licked her lips. "Maybe we could look at... staying over... with each other... more often?" she asked a bit hesitantly. She wasn't entirely sure what she was suggesting. She just knew that, much to her surprise, she _liked_   having Fitz right there in bed with her. It was... nice.

If a little crowded. Perhaps she'd look into getting a larger bed.

"I'd like that," Fitz smiled. Leaning over, he gave her a reassuring kiss. "I'd like that a lot."

The little burst in her chest was quite a bit bigger that time, and Jemma wondered if she might be coming down with something. She'd check her blood pressure when she got home. She was sure she had a sphygmomanometer packed away in one of her boxes.

Fitz walked her home like the gentleman he was and they spent a socially unacceptable amount of time kissing on her front stoop before she went inside.

She sang along to her radio as she got ready for bed, and Fitz whistled to himself on his way home.


	44. Separated

Fitz hummed to himself as he walked down the corridor into the lab. He had some Sweet Tarts in his bag. He felt a bit silly about it, but he was also a bit proud. Jemma had looked for some at the theatre concession stand, but they'd run out. He'd popped into a convenience store on the way home to pick up some orange juice to have with breakfast, and there they were.

Sweet Tarts for his sweetheart.

God, he was so in love he was making _himself_ sick.

His grin was broad as he turned into their usual workspace, but Jemma was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, Nguyen," he called out to his colleague over by the autoclave. "You seen Simmons?"

"Not today," she shrugged.

Fitz shrugged, too. She probably had an early meeting.

* * *

"Dr. Streiten," Jemma smiled, shaking the hand held out to her. "It's an honour to work with you."

"Thank you, Dr. Simmons," he smiled back. He had kind eyes and warm hands, and he made her feel less nervous immediately. "I look forward to working with you, as well. Agent Hill informs me that you'll be quite the asset for me."

Jemma blushed as she beamed with pride. "I certainly hope to be," she nodded. "What is it, exactly, that you'd like me to work on for you?"

"We're actually about to start our weekly go-to meeting," Dr. Streiten said, gesturing for her to precede him through the door. "That'll be a good chance for you to catch up on the project and meet your new colleagues."

Jemma felt her nerves returning as she walked with him down the hall. She wished Fitz were here. For moral support.

* * *

When Jemma still wasn't around at lunch time, Fitz texted her. 

He waited five minutes for a reply before shrugging and going out with Shevchenko and Esposito.

* * *

Jemma chewed her lip as she looked at her phone. She hated not replying, but she also didn't know what to say. 'Sorry I didn't tell you I've been seconded to a secret group I can't tell you about,' is really the sort of thing she should have mentioned last night. 

Sighing, she put her phone back in her pocket and smiled at her new coworkers. They were nice enough, and they'd kindly invited her to eat with them, but they weren't Fitz.

Still, she supposed she should make the best of it. She was going to be working with them for the next several weeks.

"So, where's a good place to go for coffee?" she asked with her best smile.

* * *

Fitz frowned at his email. He'd received an out of office auto reply from Jemma, and usually that wouldn't be a big deal, but he needed some of her data before he could continue with his own work. 

This was getting ridiculous.

Walking down the hallway, he rapped on his superior's door.

"Agent Bulawayo?" he asked. "Do you have a moment?"

Bulawayo shuffled some papers on his desk, setting them aside. Then he folded his hands neatly  and nodded for Fitz to enter.

"What do you need, Fitz?" he asked. He looked seemed to be trying to read his expression.

"Ehm," Fitz frowned, not sure how to put it. "I was wondering where Simmons was, actually," he said. Then he straightened up a bit and tugged his lab coat a bit straighter. "She has some data that I need, but I haven't seen her in the office all day."

"She didn't tell you?" Bulawayo asked, eyes narrowing as he peered at him.

"Tell me what?" Fitz asked, confused and a little annoyed.

"She's been temporarily transferred to another team," Bulawayo told him, still watching his face carefully.

"Another-!" Fitz was half-surprised, half-angry. "We _told_ you working together wouldn't be a problem!" he said, insulted.

"It's just temporary, Agent Fitz," Bulawayo said in a warning tone. "And it's based on her _abilities,_ not her _relationships_."

"But-"

"And it's a classified assignment, so _don't_ ask her about it."

Fitz clenched his jaw and nodded. "If you'll excuse me?" he said, wanting to leave immediately.

Bulawayo nodded and brought his papers back in front of him. But after Fitz turned to leave, he looked up and watched him go.

He waited a minute before picking up his phone and hitting 2 on the speed dial. "Hill? Bulawayo. She didn't tell him."


	45. Reunited

"Hey," Jemma said nervously into her phone. It was the end of the day and she was just walking to the train, and she desperately wanted to apologize to Fitz.

"Hey," he replied.

She was surprised by how normal he sounded

"I wanted to-"

"Get dinner? Yeah, good idea," Fitz interrupted her. "Order in? Take out?"

She blinked as she tried to puzzle through what was happening. She could only assume there was someone nearby that he didn't want to overhear their argument.

"Order in, I think," she said slowly. "Meet you at mine?"

Had Fitz managed not to notice that she wasn't at work today?

She didn't know how to feel about that.

* * *

Fitz blew out a breath as he hung up his phone. This wasn't the first time that he and Jemma had had to keep secrets from each other because of work, but it _was_ the first time they'd had to do it since becoming... romantic.

He couldn't help wishing they'd had a bit more time to get this phase of their relationship established before it had happened. Still. They were SHIELD agents. This was something they were going to have to work out sooner or later. He supposed it might as well be sooner.

He'd driven to work that day rather than taking transit, in anticipation of maybe taking Jemma out for dinner somewhere after work. He was glad of it, even though his plan was obviously not coming to fruition, because it meant that he could swing by his own apartment and stuff a few things in a backpack. Just in case he ended up being invited to stay over.

After their conversation yesterday, he had reasonably high hopes that he would be.

As strained as things felt with this unnatural wall between them, he didn't think it was anything they couldn't get past.

* * *

"Come on up," Jemma said into the intercom as cheerfully as she could. As soon as she hung up, she bit her lip and wrung her hands. 

She knew she was overreacting. This was all part of their jobs. But that didn't keep her from feeling horrible about it.

"Hey," Fitz said as he walked through her door. She'd left it ajar for him.

He looked happy enough. He even gave her a kiss.

"Missed you today," he smiled.

She felt a pang in her chest as she looked at him guiltily. "Fitz, I-"

"I know," he reassured her, kissing her again. "You can't say."

"I'm sorry," she apologized, brow wrinkled with guilt. "I found out on Friday, but I couldn't tell you. There was clearance and Agent Hill, and..." She trailed off at Fitz's understanding smile. "And I'm worrying over nothing?" she asked with a smile of her own.

"Yes," Fitz nodded and rolled his eyes. "You really are."

"Good," Jemma said simply. Then she wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek against his shoulder.

"That isn't to say we shouldn't figure out how we're going to deal with these situations in the future, though," Fitz pointed out, kissing the top of her head. "We've even guilt between us to get a couple of champion ulcers growing if we don't nip this in the bud right now."

"Ugh," Jemma agreed, nodding against his shoulder. "We really do."

"So?" Fitz asked. He lead them over to the sofa and sat them down. "What's the plan?"

Jemma curled her legs under her and rested her head on his shoulder again, once more wrapping her arms around his waist. His arms wrapped around her, too, and all of the worry she'd built up all day dissipated as easily as that.

She shrugged her response, suddenly not minding so much about the issue. "I suppose we just say that we've been assigned to a classified project and can't talk about work?" she suggested.

Fitz chuckled. "I like it. It has the benefits of being both true and easy."

"Good," Jemma grinned. "Now can we have a proper snog? I've not seen you all day and I've missed my Fitz."

" _Your_ Fitz?" he asked skeptically, one eyebrow raised. But he still pulled her into his lap and into his arms and his lips weren't the least bit sarcastic.


	46. An Old Friend Returns

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This sex gets pretty explicit and there's also multiple references to the fact that Jemma's got her period at the moment. If you don't want those two ideas together, feel free to skip. There is no plot here, only smut :P

Jemma grinned as she pulled Fitz into the shower with her.

As seemed to be the usual way of things with them, their kisses had almost immediately escalated to more ardent embraces, and those embraces had soon led to Jemma's living room floor being covered in cast off clothing. Unfortunately, because of her currently being on her period, they couldn't continue their activities right there on her white couch.

Fortunately, though, they were just a few feet from where it had all begun.

"You're brilliant, you know that?" Fitz congratulated her. He wrapped her in his arms as they backed under the shower spray.

"You're pretty clever, yourself," Jemma laughed. It trailed off into a moan as Fitz nuzzled her neck and palmed one of her breasts. "They're sensitive," she warned him, placing her hand over his. "So be gentler for now, okay?"

Not that she usually wanted to be manhandled, but she did like a certain firmness of the touch when it came to her breasts. Fitz was very good at it, but with their current tenderness she wanted to manage any speed bumps before they cropped up.

Fitz nodded his understanding, and bent his head to kiss down her collarbone and along her breast before sucking her hard nipple gently between his lips.

"Like this?" he asked, flicking it with his tongue. His other hand was massaging her other breast, and Jemma's head fell back at the sensations.

"Just like that," she nodded. Reaching out, she took his hard cock in her hand and started stroking him. She wanted him inside her, but without a condom or her diaphragm she wasn't sure she wanted the risk. She might be on her period, but that didn't make conception impossible.

Just a few more days and she'd be on birth control, and she wouldn't have to worry about this anymore. She couldn't wait.

Fitz shuddered at the wonderful feeling of Jemma's fingers stroking along his shaft. His stomach fluttered every time she gave him a squeeze, and he moaned when she reached down to fondle his balls, as well.

He was overcome again with the desire to tell her he loved her, but he worried that it might stop their momentum. Instead, he kissed her, long and deep, and moved his hand from her breast down between her legs.

She was hotter than usual, and her wetness felt thicker. That made sense, of course, when he thought about it, but he tried not to think too long. He didn't want to faint in the middle of sex, after all. He was still a bit impressed with himself that he hadn't gotten dizzy the other morning in his bed. Of course, he'd been helped by the fact that it was dark under the covers and he couldn't really _see-_

"Does this feel okay?" he asked, looking into her lovely brown eyes. When she looked at him like that, he was sure she loved him too, but he didn't want to push her to say it. Not if she wasn't ready. 

Even if he _did_ want to hear it more than he'd ever wanted anything before.

Jemma nodded. Her mouth was open and her breath was coming in short pants, and she couldn't stop staring at Fitz's handsome face all speckled with dew from the shower. "It's perfect," she told him, grabbing his wrist and encouraging him to push his fingers even deeper into her. She felt like there was a yawning chasm between her legs and only Fitz could fill it up.

Her thumb swirled around the head of his cock, and she grinned at his shudder. She loved making him feel as good as he made her feel. Making him cum was fast becoming her favourite hobby.

He was looking at her with such love and adoration, she just wanted to show him how much she cared.

"Fitz?" she said, nervous butterflies taking off in her belly. "Did you want to try... chapter 24?"

Fitz's eyes widened in surprise. "What? _Now_?" he asked. "But the lub-"

Jemma laughed softly. "The lubricant is in my bedroom, I know," she told him. Then she took his hand off her breast and placed it on her ass. "And we'll be going in there, _after_ ," she said significantly. "But that doesn't mean we can't lay some ground work..."

Fitz swallowed hard as Jemma encouraged him to grab and squeeze her ass. "You mean...?" He asked, looking over her shoulder to wear her ass flared out beautifully from her waist.

"I mean," Jemma nodded in confirmation. She kissed him softly, but it soon deepened.

Fitz still had two fingers sliding slowly in and out of her pussy. Pulling them out completely, he rubbed them over the tight ring of her asshole. They'd tried this once already when she was riding his face, and she'd _definitely_ liked it then, so he wasn't so concerned about using his fingers. It was the ' _after_ ' idea that had him wondering how it would all work out.

For now, though, he pulled her cheek aside with one hand while pressing against her hole with his other finger. He didn't try to push inside, yet. He was just putting a little pressure there to help her get used to the feeling.

Jemma moaned against Fitz's lips, her eyes heavy-lidded and her body responding to his efforts. Just like the other night, she found herself _wanting_ him to push his finger inside. It was almost like an itch, and the only way to scratch it was for him to stretch her open around him.

She held herself up with one of the hand rails she'd installed while her other hand went back to Fitz's cock. It was still so hard and as it slipped back and forth along her palm, she couldn't help evaluating its girth and what it might feel like where his finger was now pushing in. They'd definitely need to go slowly, but she was confident that they'd manage it. She hoped it felt anywhere near as good as this.

With his finger finally in to the first knuckle, Jemma took his other hand off her ass and brought it back to her pussy again. She still ached with the need to be filled there, and Fitz quickly had two fingers inside her again. He almost seemed to be massaging her cramps away on the inside.

Her hand sped up on his cock and his fingers moved more confidently inside her, and when his thumb moved up to rub on her clit, she was surprised by a quick, hard orgasm that felt good but left her wanting more.

"Keep going," she urged him, kissing him deeply again. In response, he pushed his finger to the second knuckle in her ass while working her pussy and clit even harder.

She stroked him faster and listened to his breathing speed up. He was close, too. It was his shuddering moan that pushed her over the edge, with his cock spasming in her hand as he pussy clenched around his fingers.

She was very grateful to be holding onto something _other_ than his cock because it felt so good, one of her feet slipped on the shower floor.

Fitz caught Jemma around the waist, pulling his fingers out of her immediately when it felt like she might fall. He pulled her to him, pressing their bodies close together, and looked at her in a bit of a panic.

"Careful!" he admonished her.

Jemma smiled up at him and pulled him down for another kiss. "My hero," she said fondly. "Catching me when I fall."

Fitz blushed but felt ridiculously proud, even though she was teasing him. "Can't have you hurting yourself, now can we?" he joked.

"Now," he said in a more business-like tone. "Let's get ourselves properly showered, shall we?"

Jemma passed him the shampoo and turned around for him to wash her hair. "And here I was thinking you _liked_ me dirty," she said. She winked at him over her shoulder.

Fitz let out a lusty sigh. He certainly did at that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the old friend was the shower, in case you were wondering :P
> 
> Also, the reason I said that conception is possible even if you're on your period is because sperm can live for several days inside you. So even if insemination occurs on your period, conception could occur after your period is finished. #themoreyouknow?


	47. Maybe? Eventually.

Jemma's eyes were closed and her breaths were coming out in happy sighs as she lay face down on her bed. Her crossed arms acted as a pillow with her cheek resting on top of them, and her legs were slightly spread over the cheap towel they'd laid down.

"How's that?" Fitz asked. He was rubbing massage oil into her shoulders and back, trailing his fingers over her skin and making it shine in the light of her bedside lamp.

"Mmmm. Lovely," Jemma smiled, relaxing into her mattress.

"Yes, you are," Fitz joked. Well, half-joked. He said it to make her laugh, but he meant it as well.

Jemma let out a soft chuckle and shook her head. "Oh, Fitz," she said indulgently.

"Oh, Jemma," he teased in return.

Squirting more oil on his palm, he rubbed his hands together to warm it up and then cupped the globes of her ass.

"Mmmm," they said together, although for slightly different reasons.

"You've got a very sexy arse, Jemma," Fitz said seriously. He even managed it almost without blushing.

"You've got a very sexy _everything_ ," Jemma replied. The way he was squeezing and kneading her was making her even more eager for the next part.

Fitz started laughing, but he stopped when Jemma glared at him over her shoulder.

"Agree to disagree?" he suggested mildly.

She raised an eyebrow at him.

"We're each entitled to our own opinion?" he tried.

The eyebrow lowered and she gave him a flat look.

"You're right, and I'm sorry?" he said, giving her his most contrite look.

Jemma smiled smugly in satisfaction and nodded. "Good."

"You know," Fitz said, lying down beside her so he could give her a kiss on the tip of her nose. "We're going to have to figure out a way that _I_ can win an argument without even talking."

"Are we?" Jemma asked innocently. "Do you really think that's necessary?"

He laughed and gave her bum another squeeze. "It is if you don't want a husband who just says 'yes, dear' all the time," he joked.

Jemma's eyes opened wide and her mouth dropped open in surprise. "Is that-?" she asked, surprised by the term. "Do you-?" She knew she was staring, but she couldn't seem to stop. "Husband?"

Fitz felt himself blush and go pale at the same moment, though he had no idea how he managed it. "I mean, not _immediately_ ," he hedged. "But, well, you know... Eventually? Maybe?" He rolled onto his back so that he didn't have to see her staring at him like he had two heads.

This really wasn't his favourite reason to be staring at her ceiling.

Jemma sat up a bit and propped her head up with her bent arm. She looked down at Fitz as he stared awkwardly up at the ceiling and thought back over the years they'd known each other and the time they'd been together romantically. He was her best friend _and_ he was her boyfriend, and if they got married he'd be both for as long as they both should live. There was something very appealing about that.

"Alright," she said with a small smile.

"What?" Fitz asked. His head whipped over to look at her so quickly that he thought he did damage to his neck.

"Eventually," Jemma agreed. "Maybe."

Fitz blinked and stared at Jemma. She'd never joke about something like that, but he still wondered if she might be kidding.

"Really?" he asked with more than a little amazement and disbelief.

"Maybe," Jemma nodded and shrugged. "Eventually."

Fitz had to restrain himself from asking her when 'eventually' might be and what sort of ring she might like and where she'd like to go on the honeymoon and who they should invite to the ceremony.

Instead, he said, "Alright," very carefully and squinted at her one more time to judge whether or not she meant it.

When she seemed to be in earnest, he started breathing again.

"But don't wait too long," he warned her with a wink. "'Cuz I might throw you over for someone better."

"Better!" Jemma scoffed, slapping him on the arm. "There is no such person!"

"Are you _sure_?" Fitz needled, poking her rib. He loved the little squeak she made when he did it, so he did it again. "I hear Susan in Accounting has her eye on me, and I-"

Jemma pushed him back down on his back and leaned over him to press her lips to his. "Shut it," she said firmly. Her laughter sort of ruined her authority.

"Why, Dr. Simmons," Fitz said with dramatic surprise. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you were jealous."

Jemma just kissed him again, but internally she had to admit he wasn't entirely wrong. Even knowing he was just teasing, she hadn't enjoyed the idea of him dating someone else.

But then, what girlfriend _would_ want their boyfriend dating someone else?

Well, alright, a polyamorous girlfriend. Or a monogamous one who knew her boyfriend was polyamorous and was consenting of the situation.

But other than that?

Her mind stopped wandering when Fitz's hands came back around to squeeze her ass again.

"Does it count as make up sex," she asked. "If we weren't really fighting?"

Fitz grinned and leaned over to get a condom from the bedside table.

"One way to find out."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't forgotten this fic, but I won't blame you at all if you have :)


	48. The eagle has landed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI: butt sex

Fitz had massaged oil into Jemma's back and arse for so long that he was getting worried she might fall asleep. Only her murmurs of enjoyment and the way she kept arching up into his hands let him know that she wasn't nearly as relaxed as she might be if they weren't planning to... do what they were planning to do.

He was nervous. Even though he knew she'd enjoyed all of their experimentation so far, he still wasn't sure that she'd enjoy the _real deal_ , as it were. Even with her reassurances that she'd stop him if she were uncomfortable, he was half-scared to move on.

No matter _how_ much he wanted to.

Jemma sighed lustily as Fitz's fingers passed between her cheeks for the dozenth time. She'd never been teased this much by anyone, and as sexy as it was, it was also frustrating. He was keeping her aroused without letting her ratchet up to an orgasm, and she was getting more and more impatient with every stroke of his hands across her rounded cheeks.

She looked over her shoulder and smiled at the expression of concentration on Fitz's face. Judging by that face, she'd have thought he was attempting to do higher mathematics in his head while simultaneously translating it from Hebrew or something. The poor dear. If his cock didn't look painfully hard and he hadn't been overjoyed at the idea of what they were planning, she'd have called the whole thing off.

Instead, she watched him try to work himself up to it.

What were best friends for, if not helping each other out in time of need?

Still grinning, now more mischievously, Jemma arched her hips up and reached back with both hands to pull her cheeks apart.

"Jemma!" Fitz gasped, eyes wide and cheeks reddening. He stared up at her in shock that she'd do something so... lewd.

"What?" Jemma asked, innocent expression firmly in place. "I just thought you might need some assistance is all," she explained. "Since I'm _more_ than lubricated and you're definitely hard."

Fitz swallowed hard and followed her eyes down to his cock. It stood up proud, twitching with his heartbeat and already covered with a condom.

"You're _sure_ you'll tell me if you don't like it?" he asked. He shifted position to kneel behind her, his hands running up and down her thighs.

"I'm sure," Jemma smiled. "But I won't know if I like it or not until you actually _do_ it, now will I?" she reasoned.

Fitz nodded, distracted by the way she was still presenting herself to him.

Reaching out, he rubbed his thumb back and forth across her little hole, fascinated by the way it contracted at his touch. He'd already coated it liberally with lubricant, so on the second pass his thumb slipped right inside.

"Alright?" he asked, holding his breath. Jemma was squeezing around him and it already felt fantastic. He was very much imagining how that would feel around his cock.

"Uh huh," Jemma nodded. Her eyes were closed and her breaths were coming quickly. She'd been all but obsessing about doing this, and now that it was finally going to happen she couldn't wait. "Now give me your cock," she whispered.

Fitz groaned at that and Jemma opened her eyes to meet his. Her fingers tangled in the sheet, gripping it tight, and she wiggled her ass in the air to tempt him.

"Oh, shit," Fitz whispered, watching her move. He'd never met anyone a fraction as sexy as Jemma, and every day she just proved that more and more.

Taking over where she'd left off, he used his left hand to pull her cheeks apart and give himself a clear target to aim at. With his right hand, he guided his cock against her, tapping it against her backdoor without actually penetrating yet.

Jemma shivered and moaned with each hint at what Fitz was going to do. After the first few, she detected the pattern, and on the next tap she pushed her hips back, relaxing as much as she could to help take him in.

Fitz swore as he felt the head of his cock start to push inside Jemma's ass. It was tight and it was hot, and it was harder to enter than her pussy, but with Jemma pushing back as he pushed forward, the head of his dick soon popped in.

Jemma panted and gasped at the feeling. He felt so much _bigger_ back there, and he wasn't a slouch to begin with. They'd both paused when they'd managed that first step, but now that she was used to the feeling, she wanted more.

"Keep going?" she breathed. Her eyes were squeezed shut and her fingers were clenched in the sheets, but it wasn't in pain. If anything, Fitz was scratching an itch she hadn't known she'd had.

"Are you su-?"

"Yes!"

Fitz didn't need to be told twice, especially not when she'd interrupted him to agreed. Gripping her hips firmly in both of his hands, he thrust forward slowly. His eyes closed as well, and his teeth clenched together as he concentrated on being patient in this first long stroke.

It could have been seconds or it could have been years, but eventually Fitz was in as far as he could go.

"Oh my god," he whispered, breathing out the breath he'd been holding.

"Oh my god is right," Jemma agreed. Opening her eyes, she licked her lips and looked back at her boyfriend. "So far so good?" she asked.

There was a definitely heaviness in her stomach and a tingling sensation throughout her pelvis. It didn't feel _quite_ like her usual buildup to orgasm, but it wasn't so different that she couldn't recognize it.

"So far so good," Fitz agreed. He took in a slow, deep breath and then another. "Ready?" he asked, smiling back at Jemma's contented expression.

"Ready," she nodded. And then she moaned as Fitz withdrew almost as slowly as he'd entered her.

Reaching back between her legs, Jemma found her clit, hard and throbbing, and started to rub it as Fitz started to fuck her nice and slow.  Not for the first time, she thought gratefully of _Chemistry_ and how that book had been the impetus for all of this happening.

That book and Fitz's air conditioner, with a helping hand from her shower.

But soon she stopped thinking altogether as Fitz found his rhythm, moving with faster, firmer strokes.

Fitz was still being much more careful than he usually would be while fucking Jemma, but he wanted to make sure it felt good for her. He'd been more than a little grateful to feel her fingers between her legs taking care of her clit. He needed both of his own hands to steady himself and control his strokes inside her. Maybe if they did this some more, he'd get the confidence and skill to take care of her like that at the same time, but for now he was very happy that his girlfriend was independent and happy to ensure her own pleasure.

He could feel himself riding the line of almost-cumming, and he just hoped that he could last long enough for her to get there, too. He wanted her to feel at least as good as he did, already.

Jemma's bedroom filled with the sounds of their lovemaking. The soft sighs, moans and gasps intermingled with the slaps of flesh on flesh, all of them comingling as they got louder and louder and closer together.

Jemma came first, shuddering and shivering and squeezing around him and Fitz followed seconds after. Their hips kept meeting, even as the pleasure washed over them, and they only slowed down once the waves had calmed.

Fitz wrapped his arms around Jemma and lowered them both down on the bed until he was spooning her. He kissed her neck and her shoulder as his hands stroked over her arm and her stomach. Jemma arched backward and threaded her fingers into Fitz's hair as she managed a slightly awkward kiss.

"That was brilliant," she smiled, her grin as wide as her face. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were bright, and she was full of the excitement of discovery.

"For me, too," Fitz smiled back. He loved to see her like that: flushed and excited and happy and eager. To see her like that because of what they'd just done was even better.

Holding the base of the condom, he pulled his soft cock the rest of the way out of her. Wrinkling his nose, he sighed.

"Best clean up," he said, groaning as he stood. Even after Jemma got on hormonal birth control, he'd suggest they keep using condoms for _this_ particular activity.

"Time for another shower?" Jemma asked. She winked at him as he turned back to her.

He had to laugh. "How about we start with a damp flannel and see how far we get?" he countered.


	49. Revelations

Jemma woke up at around 2am feeling hot and needing to go to the bathroom.

Needing the bathroom was no surprise. Today was the last day of her period, and that always meant she'd spent more time using the facilities than usual. Thankfully, Fitz was a heavy sleeper. There were some things he didn't need to hear just yet.

Feeling hot, though. That took a moment to puzzle through. She was nude except for the [period panties](https://www.harebraineddesign.com/collections/briefs) she'd put on, much to Fitz's amusement. They'd had a fun chuckle over them, and he'd promised to buy her more when she'd shown him the site.

As she opened her eyes and yawned, she realized she'd somehow fallen asleep lying half on top of Fitz. She didn't remember doing that, and it was eminently unlike her. She wasn't a cuddler. She actually found cuddling detrimental to being able to fall asleep, and yet here she was: curled up against Fitz's side with his arm around her and her hand splayed across his chest.

It was a comfortable position, she had to admit. They'd adopted it a few times when they were speaking in bed, and it always made her feel happy and cared for.

But they _hadn't_ been lying together like this when she'd fallen asleep. Now that she was more awake, she remembered shifting out of their spooning position to set her alarm and then the two of them settling down to sleep next to each other, but not all tangled up.

Had Fitz unconsciously drawn her into his arms in his sleep? That was definitely something he'd do. Just the idea of it made her smile.

But then there was the other possibility: what if _she_ had moved in _her_ sleep, wanting to be in his arms?

She puzzled through that one as she got up to use the toilet.

It stood to reason, she decided as she made her way back to bed. When she had her period, she was more emotionally needy than usual, so seeking out the comfort of Fitz's embrace made perfect sense. And now that she was out from under the covers and moving around, she shivered in the air conditioning. She'd probably been cold, as well.

Smiling to herself as she solved her own mystery, she slipped back under the covers.

She didn't move back into his arms because of course if she did, she'd never be able to sleep.

She just lay on her side with her back pressed against him instead. If he happened to curl around her while they slept, well... at least she knew it wouldn't wake her up.

* * *

Fitz tried to take the long view at work.

Sure, his girlfriend was at an undisclosed location doing top secret work that they couldn't talk about rather than sitting a few feet away from him where he could look at her and talk to her all day, but...

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Stop focusing on the negative. Be more like Jemma. Try to focus on the positives instead.

 _But_ , he'd woken up with her in his arms and they had plans to spend the night together again tonight.

He blushed and shifted in his seat as he remembered how they'd spent _last_ night. He didn't necessarily think they'd do that again tonight, but there was definitely the possibility.

Focusing on the positives was getting easier already.

"Hey, Fitz."

He was pulled out of his reverie by Katie Wong. She was standing over by Jemma's station and looking at him with a smile.

"Hey, Katie. What's up?"

"Just wondering if you knew when Jemma's going to be back. I was looking for her earlier, but she wasn't here. She in a meeting or something?"

"Not exactly," Fitz hedged. "I'm not sure where she is or when she'll be back," he admitted. "She's been seconded to another team and the project is eyes only, so..." He shrugged.

Katie nodded. "You can't say," she agreed. "Got it."

"Not even if I knew," Fitz confirmed.

"You don't know?" She was looking at him with intense skepticism.

"I just said," Fitz replied, a bit confused. "It's eyes only."

"Well, yeah, but..." Her look this time was significant in another way. "You two are, y'know, a _thing_."

Fitz blushed. It wasn't exactly a secret or anything, but he still didn't know how to react when people spoke about it. "And?"

" _And_?" Katie scoffed. "You're kidding, right?"

Fitz shook his head and shrugged again.

"Wow. You two really _do_ love rules." Shaking her head and chuckling, she left a message for him to pass on to Jemma the next time he saw her and then she left.

If he'd blinked, he wouldn't have seen her get pulled aside by Agent Hill.

* * *

Jemma sighed as she finished up another round of testing and typed up her results. While she could clearly see the importance of the project the team were working on, she couldn't see why they had requested _her_ in particular. Any of the many competent biochemists in SHIELD could have done the same work she was doing now. 

"Uhoh," Jean commented from his lab bench across from hers. "Bored already? It's only day two."

Jemma laughed and shook her head. "I suppose I was just hoping there'd be more to it," she shrugged. "Being seconded on top secret assignment that's eyes only sort of gave me... expectations?"

She rolled her eyes and shook her head at her own silliness.

"I guess I was thinking of myself as Jemma _Bond_ instead of Jemma Simmons," she joked.

Jean frowned for a moment before it clicked. "And the boyfriend you talk about?" he grinned. "Is he your Moneypenny?"

Jemma grinned back and laughed. "More like Q," she said. "Mixed with a Bond girl," she winked.

Then she frowned. "Except, you know, the male equivalent."

Jean laughed out loud.

They both settled back into typing for a moment, and then his head popped up again.

"Wait, what's the top secret assignment?" he asked with more than a little curiosity. "And won't you get in trouble for mentioning it to me?"

Jemma blinked. " _This_ is," she said, looking at him like he might be crazy.

"... Isn't it?"


	50. Slowly but surely

Jemma looked around Fitz's apartment with more than a little surprise.

"Is that a violet?" she asked, pointing to the plant on the windowsill. She said it in the tone she might have used for seeing a live chicken wandering around in his living room. In all the years she'd known him, Fitz had never once had a houseplant. "And _basil_?" There was a full herb garden in the other window. She turned to stare at the man she'd thought she knew.

Fitz blushed and shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck a bit awkwardly. "Just thought they might brighten the place up a bit," he mumbled, clearly embarrassed.

"They do," Jemma agreed. Her face was still a bit stunned. Not only did Fitz have houseplants now, he also had throw pillows. And area rugs. And he'd changed out the dingy grey curtains that had come with his flat for some bright blue ones that made the whole place look nicer.

She noticed that he looked self-conscious, and she immediately went over to give him a hug. "It all looks _wonderful_ ," she assured him with a big smile. "Much homier than before."

It reminded her a little of her own apartment, although it was all done in Fitz's preferred colour palette and with his own sort of organization.

"Really?" he asked. His chest puffed up a bit, and she patted it as she kissed him.

"Really," she confirmed.

* * *

"How is it going with your new team?" Fitz asked. He was stirring the spaghetti sauce and watching the boiling pasta carefully. It never failed to fascinate him the way the wooden spoon across the top of the pot helped the water not boil over.

"No details you can't share," he added with a smile over his shoulder at Jemma.

Jemma smiled back from where she was sat at the table drinking a glass of wine. He'd insisted that she let him cook, and she was being very good about not coming into the kitchen and taking things over. It was probably driving her mad, but she was nice enough not to tell him so.

This dating thing had its advantages.

"They're very nice," Jemma said, obviously measuring out her words. She couldn't use names or describe locations because of the nature of her work, and Fitz knew enough not to ask. "Everyone's been very welcoming to me, and my supervisor clearly values my work."

"I'm glad to hear it," Fitz said. He turned off the oven timer as it started beeping and then pulled out the garlic bread to let it cool a bit before cutting it. "Though I must say we miss you back at the lab."

He turned to her with what he hoped was an adorable pout, and then he winked.

"You're just saying that," Jemma teased back. "You must be glad to be rid of me for a little while, what with seeing me all the time outside of work now."

Fitz frowned a bit at that. "Are you glad to be away from me?" he asked. He meant to sound curious, but the way Jemma immediately grew more serious told him he hadn't managed it.

"Not at all!" she said. She got right up from her chair and came over to wrap her arms around him. "I always miss you when you're not there."

Fitz felt his heart swell in his chest as he wrapped her up in his arms and gave her a tender kiss.

"Good," he said firmly but with a small smile. "Because you're not getting rid of me any time soon."

"Good," Jemma said back, just as firmly and with a little nod. "Because you're stuck with me for the duration, as well."

Their kiss was interrupted by the timer for the spaghetti, and Fitz sighed as he broke away from her to drain the pasta.

"I've made sure no one touches so much as a sticky note on your desk," he told her as he rinsed it off in the sink.

When he turned back around to bring it over to the table, he couldn't quite identify the look on Jemma's face. She seemed pleased, but there was more to it than that.

* * *

Jemma snuggled further into Fitz's side as they curled up on the sofa and watched Planet Earth. Even though he'd bought her a bag of kale chips, she was still sneaking pretzels out of his bag any time she could get away with it. The punishment for being caught was a poke in the ribs and a kiss on the nose or cheek, so she wasn't being entirely careful about it. 

It was sort of amazing to her that they were together like this. Even after the last week and a half, and all the years before it, she still couldn't quite believe that Fitz wanted _her_ to be the one on the sofa with him.

She looked at his profile and stole another pretzel, and this time when he turned to kiss her forehead, she pulled him down to her lips.

"Stealing kisses now, too?" he teased.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," she joked back.

"Well, if you're _desperate_..." Fitz grinned.

The TV was forgotten as the kisses grew longer, and Jemma couldn't remember a more perfect date she'd had with anyone.

He'd bought her favourite movie snack, added vegetables to his usual meat sauce for the spaghetti, let her go on tangents about the various flora and fauna they'd been watching in the film.

But it was more than that. He'd also talked her into a third piece of garlic bread, and explained the bit with the wooden spoon, and described how the various technical shots might have been taken with drones and with certain camera setups.

For the first time, possibly ever, Jemma felt on completely equal terms with a boyfriend. He cared for her but also let him care of her in return. He knew she could be controlling, but trusted her not to be when he asked.

He didn't let anyone touch the sticky notes on her desk.

The warm, fuzzy feeling inside of her chest was back and stronger than ever, and Jemma was starting to wonder if it might mean-

"Think we should take this to the bedroom?" Fitz asked.

They were sprawled out on his sofa, their clothes all askew, and things were definitely progressing in a way that would require a bed sooner rather than later.

"Mmhmm," Jemma nodded. That's what it meant. She was aroused by him and looking for more contact. She wanted them as close as they could get again. She needed to feel his skin against hers.


	51. Getting to the Point

Fitz woke up with his arms splayed wide and Jemma snuggled up against his side. He smiled, even through the grogginess of early morning, and wiped the sleep out of his eyes.

"Hey," he said softly.

When she blinked herself awake and turned her head to look at him, his heart caught in his throat. It did that every morning when he realized this was real and it hadn't all been a dream. He wondered if it would keep happening for the rest of his life.

He hoped it would.

"You can shower first," he offered. He rolled his eyes when she got a mischievous look on her face. "No, we _can't_ save water by showering together," he said with a smirk. "We still haven't installed the hand rails in my shower, remember?"

Jemma pouted for a moment, then kissed him.

"Alright, fine," she said a bit petulantly. "But tonight we sleep over at _my_ place."

Then she grinned and bounced out of bed and he was left with the wonderful happy feeling of knowing that at the end of the work day, they'd be coming home to each other.

* * *

Jemma hummed to herself as she typed up yet another report. Really, the humming was the only thing keeping her interest at this point.

She didn't have a problem with drudge work. She did it all the time. What she had a problem with was being assigned drudge work and being told it was massively important research.

It was insulting to her intelligence to think she wouldn't figure it out.

At least she'd be able to leave early today, even if it _was_ to see her gynecologist. But IUDs didn't insert themselves, after all, so...

"Agent Simmons?"

Jemma turned at the voice behind her and found herself standing toe to toe with Agent Maria Hill.

"Ma'am," she said, startled by  her sudden appearance.

"Dr. Streiten is under the impression that you'd like to speak with me?" Agent Hill raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow and tilted her head expectantly. Her arms were in their usual crossed positions over her chest, but she didn't look _too_ overtly confrontational.

"Oh." Jemma blinked and tried to gather her thoughts. She hadn't been expecting to have this conversation. "I do, yes," she said with a slow, deliberate nod. She clasped her hands in front of her and squared her shoulders.

There was no point in missing an opportunity after all.

Agent Hill looked at her for a long moment before nodding in return and gesturing toward the door.

"Good. I've booked an office for us. Right this way."

Jemma took a deep breath to calm herself down.

She could do this.

* * *

Fitz felt a bit odd letting himself into Jemma's apartment when she wasn't there, but he still had his key from when he'd stayed with her, so at least it wasn't breaking and entering?

He wondered if he should offer to give the key back to her, but then he decided against it. He didn't want to know what it felt like if she said yes.

Putting that thought aside, he dropped his overnight bag in the front hall and moved into the kitchen to get a vase for the flowers he'd bought. He had to laugh at himself. He was turning into every cliche of a boyfriend he'd ever scoffed at in his life. And he was _enjoying_ it.

He placed the bouquet in the centre of the dining table and then went back to grab his bag. He'd unpacked his toiletries bag into the bathroom and was rummaging in a side pocket when a key turned in the lock and Jemma came in.

"Welcome home," he said. He gave her an ironic grin and tried not to blush too much.

She smiled back, but then her brows drew together in a frown. Then her lower lip wobbled and her cheeks got red and he was rushing her into a hug before her door had even closed.

"What happened?" he demanded. He pulled her close. Then he pulled her back to look at her face. Then he pulled her close again and kissed her hair.

"Shhh," he whispered. "I've got you."

* * *

Jemma let herself relax into Fitz's arms. Let his calm voice and soothing hands bring her back to herself.

"I'm sorry," she apologized with a wet chuckle. "I'm being silly."

She backed up far enough that she could wipe her hands over her cheeks and then smiled and kissed him.

"It's nothing, really," she told him.

At his skeptical look, she rephrased. "Alright, it's not _nothing_ , but it's nothing for me to get upset over."

Fitz squinted at her for a moment before releasing her. "Are you going to tell me about it?" he asked hesitantly.

She hated that he wasn't sure.

"I _am_ ," she said firmly. Stepping forward again, she encircled him in a hug. "Just as soon as I get my fill of hugs."

She closed her eyes and smiled as she felt the rumble of his laugh under her cheek. It might just be her favourite feeling in the world.

"If history is anything to go by," Fitz joked. "You'll get your fill around about Christmas."

Jemma laughed and swatted him before hugging him again.

"You'll notice I didn't say what _year_."

She had the full on giggles now and just like that, he'd made it all better.

Fitz could always make things better.

* * *

"Tea," Fitz said as he handed Jemma her cup. "And biscuits and some sliced oranges because you're a nutter for healthy things like that."

He was still a bit on edge from the way Jemma'd come back home, but she seemed a lot better now so he was just biding his time until she was ready to talk.

"The flowers are lovely," she said after taking a sip. "Thank you."

He shrugged self-consciously and set about picking up the contents of his bag from her floor. He'd dropped it when she'd come in so upset and now his shorts and things were strewn about the carpet. "I saw them, and I thought you'd like- Ah! There it is!"

He stood up, waving a magazine triumphantly. "I knew it was in there!"

"What on earth is it?" Jemma asked, staring at him in amusement.

"I finally got my hands on that article you've been searching for," Fitz answered smugly. "The one on regeneration with that type of stem cells I can never pronounce right?"

Jemma's jaw dropped and he bounced on his toes as he gloated.

" _Application of mesenchymal stem cells in the regeneration of musculoskeletal tissues?"_ Jemma asked, clearly gobsmacked.

"The very one," he confirmed. His chest was puffed out so far he might just tip over.

He held the journal out to her, but instead of reading it she placed it on the coffee table.

He felt confused and a little bit hurt... right up until she yanked him down onto the couch and kissed him breathless.

When she finally let him up for air, he was convinced the lack of oxygen had gone to his brain. That was the only thing that could explain what she said next.

"Fitz? I- I love you."


	52. There are worse reasons?

Half an hour and half a dozen exchanges of "I love you" later, Fitz had Jemma cradled in his arms as they lay down on her sofa. There was a heating pad between them to help Jemma's post-IUD-insertion cramps, but it was nothing compared to the warmth in his heart now that he knew just how Jemma felt.

"Now," he said as he settled her against him more firmly. "Spill. What's happened?"

He kissed the tip of her nose and smiled smugly. "Not that I'm not ecstatic about how you feel, but I can't help wondering what prompted it all."

Jemma blushed and laughed and he kissed her again. On the lips this time.

"I suppose it all started when Agent Hill and I spoke this morning..."

* * *

"Have a seat," Agent Hill said, indicating one of the visitor chairs in the office. She herself sat behind the desk, folding her hands together and resting them on top of the polished surface. 

Jemma sat with her hands clasped loosely in her lap. She took a deep breath and tried to get her thoughts in order. She'd have preferred having this meeting with more notice so that she could prepare her notes ahead of time, but sometimes in this job you had to wing it, so wing it she'd do.

"Now," Hill said with a small professional smile. "I hear from Dr. Streiten that you're not satisfied with the work being assigned to you?"

Jemma felt her nerves flare up immediately. She didn't want to be known as a complainer!

"Not at all!" she said, eyes wide with sincerity. Then she paused. Her brows knit together slightly. "Well, I suppose there is a _grain_ of truth to that," she admitted. "But that's not the source of my... discomfort?"

There really wasn't a good word for it, was there? And winging it meant she couldn't brainstorm ahead of time and find the right one.

"And what _is_ the source of your... discomfort?" Hill's face was unreadable. Pleasant enough but not showing anything that was going on in her mind.

Jemma wished she had a poker face half as good.

"I suppose I just don't really see the point of seconding me to this unit on an eyes-only, confidential assignment when I'm doing the kind of lab work I found routine when I was a teenager."

That netted her a raised eyebrow from Hill.

"Especially since the work that had to be interrupted in order for me to come here on this assignment seems, at least to me, to be much more impactful."

Jemma refused to back down, keeping her shoulders back and her head up. She wasn't wrong, and they both knew it.

"Are you sure you're not just disappointed that we separated you from Agent Fitz?"

The look Hill gave her wasn't particularly pointed, but it still felt barbed.

"This is hardly the first time that Agent Fitz and I have been on separate assignments," Jemma pointed out. Of course, it _was_ the first time since they'd become romantically involved, but that was neither here nor there.

Hill looked at her appraisingly for a moment. Then she leaned back in her chair.

"What does _he_ think about this assignment?" she asked with a neutral sort of curiosity.

Jemma shrugged and sighed. "He's proud that I was hand-picked to work on something so important that it couldn't even be mentioned in the weekly meeting."

Hill raised her eyebrow again.

"And how do you feel about lying to him?"

Jemma flushed. "I'm _not_ lying to him!" she argued. "He knows that I'm on a confidential assignment. And confidential means that I can't talk to him about it. Not even about the fact that I'm not doing a damned confidential thing at all!"

Her voice had gotten louder at the end and her hands were now gripping the arms of her chair. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to calm down.

"My apologies," she said in a more measured tone.

"You're fine," Hill said, waving it off like it was nothing. Standing up, she moved over to a file cabinet and opened it up with a key she wore around her neck. There was only one file in it. Coming back to the desk, she placed it in the exact centre of the table top and then looked at Jemma.

Jemma looked at the file and saw it clearly marked as Level 7 access. She was only Level 4.

"How would you feel about going on a _real_ eyes-only, confidential assignment?" Hill asked, looking at her closely.

"What sort of assignment?" Jemma asked. She could feel a bubble of excitement start up in her gut.

"You'd be in the field."

"The field!" Jemma gasped. She'd applied a few times since graduating the Academy and always been denied. She'd never been able to pass the field assessment test, so she'd had to watch as lesser scientists got plum assignments working on the front lines of SHIELD's interactions with alien races.

"We're putting a team together," Hill said, revealing no detail whatsoever. "And your name came up as an ideal candidate for it."

Jemma's face lit up with pride. Someone at Level 7 (or higher!) had noticed her work. Someone wanted her to be at the forefront of her peers.

"The first leg will be about six months," Hill continued. "Then we'll bring you back in for a more formal debrief than we can get from reports. The usual physical and mental health assessments, etc. Providing everything is good there and your performance has been satisfactory, we'd want you to stay with the unit for two years."

"Two years!" Jemma breathed out her surprise. It must be a special unit indeed. They didn't usually schedule people that far out.

"Where would we be based out of?" Jemma asked. Hopefully a city where Fitz could still work in a Sci-Ops lab. Not that he'd necessarily be opposed to moving over into the private sector, but that would be a much longer conversation than a simple transfer would be.

"You'd be mobile," Hill said. "No base camp. I can't provide further details because of security."

Jemma nodded, but slowly. She felt another frown cross her face. If they were mobile that meant either a plane or a ship, neither of which would be conducive to Fitz's continued work with Sci-Ops. In fact, mobile teams generally had very tight quarters. They wouldn't be able to bring on anyone who wasn't also a member of the team.

Fitz had never applied for field work. He liked the lab.

"I see," she said thoughtfully.

"I've documented the information that I _am_ able to share with you," Hill said, opening the folder and pulling out the top sheet. There were only about six lines of text on it. She passed it over to Jemma and stood to put the remainder of the file back in the cabinet. "I can give you tonight to think it over, but I'll need your answer tomorrow."

Jemma's mind was already swirling.

* * *

"I thought about it all through my appointment," she said. 

Fitz nodded. He was glad of the heating pad now because he was feeling suddenly cold. Jemma leaving? For _two years_? And field work was dangerous. What if she-

"What did you decide?" he asked. His voice sounded strange to his ears. Probably because of the large lump in his chest.

"I hadn't," Jemma replied. She curled deeper into him, squeezing her arms around him more tightly and pressing her cheek into his shoulder. "And when I got here, I opened the door and I saw you and you said 'Welcome home' and I just-"

He pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head. He could feel her getting upset again, and he rubbed her back to help her calm down.

" _You're_ home, Fitz," she said, leaning up so that she could look down at him. "Wherever you are, that's home to me. The Academy, Sci-Ops, this sofa. It's _you_."

There was another twenty minutes of kissing and I-love-yous before they were able to keep talking again.

"But it was the journal that gave me the final push," Jemma admitted with a grin.

"That thing?" Fitz asked, frowning at her like she was mad. It was a ruddy _magazine_. And that's what did it?

"I've been looking for it for months," Jemma pointed out. "And you found it for me. Without my asking you to. Just because you knew it would make me happy."

She kissed him and he let her, but he still couldn't quite see it.

"So you love me because of science?" he joked.

"I love you because of science," she agreed.


	53. Finally

It was over dinner that they finally got to the discussion that needed to be had.

"So did you want to stay, then?" Fitz asked as he poured the wine. "Here? With me? Or did you want to go into the field?"

They'd talked and debated and argued Jemma's interest in going into the front lines before. Fitz could understand her perspective of wanting to be at the forefront of alien interactions. He had a similar scientific curiosity when it came to alien technology. He just wasn't as sure about the dangers involved.

And there was also the fact that a lot of the Ops agents he'd known in his time were complete dicks.

"In a perfect world, I suppose I'd like both," Jemma answered with a smile. Reaching out, she squeezed his hand. "But it's not just _my_ decision anymore. Is it?"

"It's not?" Fitz asked. He turned his hand over to hold hers.

"Oh, Fitz." Jemma laughed and rolled her eyes, then leaned over and gave him a kiss. "It's _our_ decision now. Because we're _us_. We've been us for a long time, and I'm just finally realizing it is all."

"So you won't go?" His face was hopeful, but cautious.

"Not without you." Her face was full of fondness. "So we'll just have to find a field mission that appeals to us _both_ , and in the meantime we'll keep on as we are."

Fitz blinked. "We'll _what_ now?"

"Oh, come on, Fitz!" Jemma cajoled. "You know you want to see what's out there as much as I do! It'll be exciting! Amazing! Think of all the questions we'll be able to answer! All of the questions we'll be able to _ask_!"

"All of the large men with guns who will keep us from doing any of it?"

Jemma rolled her eyes again. "I _said_ we could find an assignment that suits us both."

"And there are a lot of field assignments where we won't have to worry about large men with guns, are there?"

"There must be at least a few."

"I don't know. I think it could take a while."

"Well then. I suppose it's a good thing that _you're_ interesting enough in the meantime."

"I am?" Fitz asked with a slightly goofy grin.

"You are," Jemma confirmed with a kiss. "You've been the most interesting person I've ever met, ever since that first day at the Academy. And I don't see that changing in the interim."

They ate in companionable silence for a moment or two.

"I'd want to have our own lab," Fitz said firmly. "And I'd want to equip it to _my_ specifications."

" _Our_ specifications," Jemma corrected just as firmly.

"And I'd want to have a good team. No hardass level 6 Ops agent as the leader. I'd want someone who listens to us and doesn't just write us off as the requisite nerds."

"Agreed."

"And whatever we end up working on, I want it to expand our skill sets. I don't want to just do the same rote thing over and over again every week."

"Exactly. This should be an opportunity for personal and professional growth."

There was more silence as they chewed a few more bites.

Fitz looked over at Jemma with a slight blush. "Do you think you'd ever have to wear tac gear?" he asked as casually as he could.

Jemma grinned back. "Do you think you'd _like_ me to wear tac gear?"

"You _do_ look good in black..."

"And wearing my hair up is rather flattering for my neck..."

* * *

_Six months later  
_

"Fitzsimmons. Good to meet you. I've heard a lot about you."

They both stared at their new boss. Wasn't he-?

"I look pretty good for a dead guy, don't I? I get that a lot."

"Agent... Coulson?" Jemma asked.

"But- New York...?" Fitz added.

"Things happened," Coulson nodded. "Stabby things. But SHIELD patched me up and gave me a vacation, and I'm all good now."

"A vacation?" Jemma asked. She'd seen the extent of his injuries in the non-redacted parts of reports. There was no way he could be standing in front of her right now.

"Tahiti," he nodded. "It's a magical place."

Jemma turned to Fitz at the same time that he turned to her. "It must be." "Clearly," they said at the same time.

"Come on," Coulson said cheerfully. He waved them to follow him. "Let me show you your new home." Opening the door to a large hangar, he pointed proudly at a large jet. "We call it the Bus."

Jemma reached out and grabbed Fitz's hand and Fitz squeezed her fingers in his.

This was the start of a whole new adventure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This wasn't at all where I saw this going when I started the whole thing, but the idea hit me so I just ran with it.
> 
> Now to track down those fics that I know exist where FS are already together at the start of season 1. If you know of one, please link it in a comment so that we can keep this story going, one way or another. :)
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has read, kudos'd, and especially commented. I know you love this story and you're sad to see it end, but I'm glad that you came along on the ride with me. You guys are awesome. Have a great day!


End file.
